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€\fttlfnm §so(itt]): 

BSTABLISBED H.DCCC.XLItl., FOB THE PDBIJCATIOII OF 

HISTOBICAL AND LITEEAKT REMAINS 

CONNECTED WITH THE PAUTINE COUHTIBS OF 

ILancaster anD Ci)e0ter. 



COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1886-7. 

Prrtfibrnt. 

The VVnrJii,rfuI RtCllAKh <(Jl'I,KV CMRISTIF, M.A., 
I'hanrellcw of Ihc Iljocrtc cif SUachcilci. 

Vitr<prr«tirrnt. 

The Righl Re». THE LOkli lirsllOl' OF CHF^TER, D.D. 
Connnt. 
lAME?? CROSTON. V.'^t.. t'.S.X 
J. 1-. KAkWAKKR. Kvj., MA.. K.S.A. 
lim T..<.<lLllNKI. HSIiWH.K, K.S..A, 
lIKNkV H. HOWllKTil. V.'^;., M.I',. KS.A. 

The K« JCIIIV lii>\VAKI> M.KKSUKN. Hit.. F.R.<;.S.. btc PUBrt rmftwor. 
The kcv. JaMK.-' kAI.NK. M.A.,» imfl.rf Vort. FtNuw <.f Duihani ln.»er«l». 
KKANK kKNAlIl, K-.., M. H.. K.S. A. 

J. r. kvi-ANns. i:m,.. kn.a. 

The kc-. ki<-|IAKIlT(>^ll^; M.A., l\-^. Canon of MuMbcslcr. 
A. W. WAKI), Htq., U(.I>.. M.A. 

Crralnrrr. 

;. Joseph JOknAN. tX-.. Ih* H»rk, Sl. Ann*. Slwf, MincSmft. 

Ssnanup ^rtrrtirp. 

JOHN E. IIAILEY. Evj.. F.S..V, Streif.»d. M»ncb«iCT. 



RULES. 

I. Th»l thf S-wicly •hall l« limn*-! in <hr« huiulinl ■fid IWiy mcmlm. 

1. Th»l ihf Siiriciy ihall on.iisl .if mcnil-m Iwinc MilrniilirM ul one |»u»<l anniunr, wch ratMcriptloa 
■o W p»icl in uKaihc ipn -a \kS-ic the 'iij •■{ j;rmTil mrcimt; ii> <«rh Trju. 1 hr tii..: crncnl mnliiif; to 
be hrlil irti thr JJiil <lsv of March. Ilvil. anil ihc c<n<ril iiirciinfi in rath »rar aflrrmarU .m (he tin* liajr 
of M«fh. unt.-.. 11 fill' .in ■ S.ma.iy. »her. -.me Mhe> iljv i^ i.. W tiimcl t,, the <. .unci. 

J. Thai ihe aflaidiif ihr S'K-ifi> !«■ c-.n-lu.ir-l by a I .«nu1. i-.n'j.iinE "f • l"-""-"""" I'nwtenl ■»! 
Vite-iVoiileBI. anil lacltc mhrr mimlK-rs iiirluiii.i; a Tm-un-f aiwi ><Trrtan'. all irf wlvim thall lie 
ciccteil. the fiM two al the c"'"'' ""''mi; "r" •''" » lacaney "lull "ccui, awl the twelve .Hhei 
mCDitien at Ihe i^i-ral mcehnc annually. 

4. Tlial ihe leiimnu ••1 the triTi|.ti a".l c»[«^iUmtc 'rf the S.«irlr It aoililed anniull^, lijr ihfrc 
•nlil.ir>, !■• Weleitof 11 ihe priwr.il in<nin|; ; ari'I lliat any tnrmlK-t »h" ttulJ I* nne ycai id ■rrrai of 
bit uil"iH|'li'*i. 'hill nil U>n(,>et l< ci.nsj.li-reil a% |pelirti(;i"i; I" Ihe S.iriely. 

t Thai rMTT mrml«-f nm in aii.-.u of hi* annual .ulwn] n-m. I« rmiltol lu ■ cojij ol each irf Ihe 

6, Tt1.11 iHri>i> c<>i-<n of each w.<rk ihall It allnKeil lo ihe ril^'ir al the >une, in Mltitino tu the uoe 
lo which he majr Iw cniillol u a iDeDibeT. 

A^flUalwm /<>r Membfrtkif and etAer (irmmiimcaliinis la 6e addrtiud to tiu Honorary 
Sttrttary. 



LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 



NEW SERIES. 

FIRST YEAR (1882-3). 

Vol. I. The Vicars of Rochdale. By the late Rev. Canon Raines, M.A., F.S.A. Edited by Henry H. 
HowoRTH, F.S.A. Part i. //. xiii. 200. 

Vol. 2. The Vicars of Rochdale. Part 2. pp, 201-391. 

Vol. 3. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories at Chester, with an Appendix of Abstracts of Wills 
now Lost or Destroyed. Transcribed by the late Rev. G. J. Piccope, M.A. Edited by J. P. 
Earwaker, M.A., F.S.A. pp. x. 262. 

SECOND YEAR (1883-4). 

Vol. 4. The Catechismey or a Christian Doctrine necessary for Children and Ignorant people^ of Lawrence 
Vaux, 1574, sometime Warden of the Collegiate Church, Manchester. Edited by T. G. Law, Esq., 
Signet Library, Edinburgh, pp. ex. in. 

Vol. 5. The Rectors of Manchester, and the Wardens of the Collegiate Church of that Town. By the 
late Rev. F. R. Raines, M.A. Edited by J. E. Bailey, F.S.A. Part L The Rectors ; Warden 
Huntingdon to Warden Chaderton. pf>. xx. 100. 

Vol. 6. The Rectors of Manchester, and the Wardens of the Collegiate Church of that Town. Part H. 
Warden Dee to Warden Herbert. //. 101-206. 

THIRD YEAR (1884-5). 

Vol. 7. The Old Church and School Libraries of Lancashire. With Bibliographical and other Illustra- 
tions. By Richard Copley Christie. //. xiii. 215. 

Vol. 8. The History of the Parish of Poulton-le-Fylde. By Henry Fishwick, F.S.A. pp. 232. 

Vol. 9. The Coucher Book of Furness Abbey. Part L The Furness Domains. Edited by the Rev. J. 
C. Atkinson, M.A. pp. 260. 

FOURTH YEAR (1885-6). 

Vol. 10. The History of the Parish of Bispham. By Henry Fishwick, F.S.A. //. 143. 

Vol. II. The Coucher Book of Furness Abbey. Part H. Edited by the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, M.A. 
//. 261-536. 

Vol. 12. The Crosby Records. Edited by the Rev. T. E. Gibson and the late Bishop Goss. //. xxvi. 
108. 

FIFTH YEAR (1886-7). 

Vol. 13. A Bibliography of the Works Written and Edited by Dr. Worthington. By R. C. Christie. 
pp. vii. 88. 

Vol. 14. The Coucher Book of Furness Abbey. Part HL Edited by the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, D.C.L. 
pp. Ix. 537-728. 

Vol. 15. The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. Part L By the Hon. and Rev. Canon 
Bridgeman. //. vii. 180. 



REMAINS 
l^iKtortcal anD Hittrarp 



CONNECTED WITH THE PALATINE COUNTIES OF 



Xatuaster anli €\)tsttx. 




VOLUME 16.— NEW SERIES. 



MANCHESTER: 

prtnttD for tte Cbntiam %aritt;. 




Ci)e CI)etl)am ttocietp. 

COUNCIL FOR 1886-7. 

THE WORSHIPFUL RICHARD COPLEY CHRISTIE, M.A., 

ChANCBLLOH of the DlOCRSH OF MaHCHBSTER, PKBSIOtNT. 

THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER, D.D. 

Vich-Prh51dent. 
JAMES CROSTON, Esq., F.S.A 
J, P, EARWAKER, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. 
LIEUT. -COLON EL FISHWICK, F.S.A. 
HENRV I 



REV. JOHN HOWARD MARSDEN, B.D., F.R.G.S., 

L»TB DmsEV PnOFBSSOB, 

BEV, JAMES RAINE, M.A., Canon of York. 

FRANK RENAUD, E.sq., M.D., F.S.A. 

J. P. RVLANDS, Esq., F.S.A. 

BEV. RICHARD TONGE, M.A., Hon. Canon of Man 

A. W. WARD, Es()., Lit.D,, M.A, 

J, JOSEPH JORDAN, Esq., Theasurhr. 

JOHN E. BAILEY, Esq., F.S.A., Hon. Skrbtab 



THE 




mtox^ ot % fi^lttr^t!^ panar of Wix^m 



IN THE 



COUNTY OF LANCASTER. 



By THE Honourable and Reverend 

GEORGE T. O. BRIDGEMAN, 

Rector of IVigan, Honorary Canon of Liverpool^ and 
Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, 

(author of "a history of the princes of south wales," etc.) 



PART I. 



PRINTED FOR THE CHETHAM SOCIETY. 

1888. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE History of the Church and Manor of Wigan 
possesses an interest of its own. not only from the 
close connection of the one with the other, but also from 
the fact of its being the only instance, as far as I know, 
in which a secular priest held, in right of his church, 
such plenary powers as were conferred upon John de 
Winwick and his successors by King Edward HI. 
There were others who became lords of the manor as 
parsons of their churches, as for instance the rectors of 
the neighbouring parish of Winwick. but I am not aware 
of any. beside the rectors of Wigan, who enjoyed a view 
of frankpledge, acquittance for themselves and their ten- 
ants from attendance at the Sheriffs' tourns, cognizance 
of all pleas as well concerning lands, tenements and rents 
as concerning transgressions, covenants and complaints, 
together with issues, forfeitures, amercements, fines and 
redemptions in cases of this sort arising within their town, 
manor or lordship, and also pleas of assizes, concerning 
tenants within their manor, who should happen to be ar- 
raigned before the King's justices appointed to hold assizes 
within the county, so that the said justices, when called 
upon by the parson or his l>ailiff, should give them up to 



IV Introdunion. 

him to be tried in his own court. The parsons, moreover, 
were empowered to enquire into all felonies perpetrated 
within their town or liberty, and to keep the felons in their 
own prison until the next gaol delivery. These, with 
other privileges, were conferred upon the parsons of 
Wigan for ever by a charter of Edward III., and were 
exercised by them for a long time. 

In compiling these records I have endeavoured to 
search out the individual history of these parson-lords 
from as early a period as I could meet with them. The 
succession is nearly complete from the time of Richard I. 
to the present day ; and I trust the result of my re- 
searches may not be altogether devoid of interest, at all 
events to the local antiquary. 

During this period of many centuries the benefice 
has been held by several men of mark, who have 
played no unimportant part in the occurrences of their 
times. Their characters, accomplishments and lines of 
thought have been as varied as the events of the days in 
which they lived. Among these, the most conspicuous, 
perhaps, were, (i) parson Maunsell, the military church- 
man of the time of Henry III., who personally engaged 
in the King s wars in France, and in one engagement 
with his own hands took prisoner a person of some dis- 
tinction ; who acted for many years as the King s chief 
councillor, at one time presided over his finances as the 
first English Chancellor of the Exchequer, and afterwards 
became Keeper of the Great Seal ; and who was a person 
of considerable importance to Wigan, inasmuch as it 



Introdunion. v 

was through him that the town acquired its first charter 
of freedom : — (2) John de Winwick, who stood high in 
the favour of Edward III., from whom he received a 
confirmatory charter extending the privileges formerly 
granted to Maunsell with respect to the town of VVigan, 
and who likewise appears to have held the great seal as 
keeper at the time of his death : — (3) the learned and 
accomplished Thomas Linacrc. M.D., in the reigns of 
Henry VII. and Henry VIII., who may almost be said 
to have introduced into the English Universities the 
study of Latin and Greek, who was largely instrumental 
in creating in them a taste for polite literature, and who 
IS said to have rescued the art of medicine from the low 
position to which it had then fallen: — and (4) John 
Pearson, bishop of Chester in the reign of Charles II., 
the eminent divine whose great work on the Creed is the 
principal text-book of all our theological students even to 
this day. 

The lives of such men cast an historical interest over 
the church of Wigan with which they were connected, 
though its spiritual interests were probably better cared 
for by rectors of less celebrity. 

In early times the whole township of VVigan belonged 
entirely to the parson, and probably a large part of it was 
forest. In the course of time, however, the lands wer^ 
gradually let to tenants in fee, who reclaimed them, and 
paid what was then a fair proportion of rent to the lord 
of the soil, to whom also they owed suit and service. But 
these perpetual fee farm rents, being fixed sums, became 



vi IntroduHion. 

at length comparatively worthless, as the value of money 
decreased, and they have long since been given up. Each 
burgess was also bound to pay for his burgage and garden 
a rent of one shilling. The rest of the land was held in 
demesne, or by tenants at will; and even so late as Queen 
Elizabeth's time the fee farm rents and those received 
from the tenants at will formed a considerable portion 
of the parson's income. 

As the feudal system declined — having done its work 
in making Englishmen the best soldiers in the world — 
and as the wealth and power of the burgesses and people 
increased, the rights and perquisites of the lords of the 
manor became gradually less and less, until the last fig- 
ment of secular authority was done away with by the late 
rector, who, with the patron's consent, made over to the 
Mayor and Corporation the tolls of the markets and fairs 
shortly before his resignation of the benefice. 

In studying the materials for the compilation of these 
parochial annals, I find that the ancient manorial rights 
and privileges of the rectors have ever been a fruitful 
source of litigation between them and their people, in- 
somuch that the inhabitants of Wigan from time to time 
seem to have inherited a traditionary feeling that it was 
their duty as citizens to resist and curtail these rights to 
the best of their power, in which indeed they generally 
succeeded, as will be shewn in the following pages. 

From the general kindness and courtesy which I have 
received, as rector, from all classes of the community, I 



Ifiiroiiuiliott, vii 

have every reason to hope that this old feeling of con- 
flicting interests has entirely passed away, and been re- 
placed by a better one. That this good feeling between 
parson and people may be perpetuated to all future 
generations, so that the good seed of God's word may be 
freely sown among them and bring forth abundant fruit 
unto life eternal, is the earnest wish and prayer of the 
writer, 

GEORGK T. O. BRIDGEMAN, 

Rector of Wigan. 



WiGAN Hall, 

Christmas, 1S87. 



"f^imtv of tl^e Cl^uvc]^ ann inanoi: of mi^an. 



AMONGST the ancient ecclesiastical establishments of the 
county of Lancaster, that of Wigan holds a prominent 
position. There was a church here in Saxon times, as we learn 
from the survey of William the Conqueror. 

Lancashire, as a county, is not to be found in the Domesday 
Record, but the southern portion of it is surveyed under the 
title of "the land between the Ribble and the Mersey." This 
territory contained the hundreds of Derbei, Neutone, Walintune, 
Blachburne, Salford, and Lailand ; of which the three former 
are now included in the hundred of West Derby. 

In the description of the great manor, or lordship, of Newton, 
given in Domesday, it is stated that in King Edward's time " the 
church of this manor had one carucate of land, and St. Oswald 
of this vill two carucates, exempt from all dues." 

"The church of this manor" was unquestionably the parish 
church of WigaUy while that of St. Oswald will have been that 
of Winwick.2 A carucate, or plough land, signifies as much 
arable land as could be tilled throughout the year by one team 
of oxen. It is difficult to estimate the acreage of a carucate in 
any particular locality. In some instances it is estimated to 
be as low as 60 acres, in others as high as 180 acres.^ The 

' The ancient parish of Wigan includes the townships of Wigan, Pemberton, Up- 
holland, Dalton, Winstanley, Billinge Higher, Billinge Lower, Hindley, Abraen, 
Ince, Orrell, Haigh and Aspull, of which the last mentioned is in the hundred of 
Salford, and the remainder are in that of West Derby. From this I infer that the 
boundaries of the parish were of prior date to the disposition of the lands by William 
the Conqueror, for after the Conquest the manor and lands of Aspull were held of the 
barony of Manchester (see Baines' Lane. vol. iii. p. 552). 

* Kennett's Glossary to Parochial Antiquities, B - 



2 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

difference, probably, rather lay in the nature of the soil than in 
any various system of superficial measurement. The carucate 
held by the church of Wigan may, perhaps, have contained 
about lOO or 120 acres ; that is to say, this was all the land then 
under cultivation in the manor of Wigan, which is co-extensive 
with the present parliamentary borough. 

From a very early period, probably before the Conquest, the 
Parsons of Wigan held the manor of Wigan as an appanage to 
their church. It was subsequently held by them under the 
Lords of Newton or Barons of Makerfield, as they were indis- 
criminately called, who presented to the church as patrons, and 
to whom the Parsons owed suit. But except as patrons of the 
church the interest of these mesne lords was little more than 
nominal," and the Parsons were the real lords of the manor, 
though in some of the inquisitions post mortem Wigan is men- 
tioned among the manors of the Lords of Newton. 

The first Norman Lord of Newton was Robert Banastre, who 
came over to England with William the Conqueror, and had 
the barony of Makerfield assigned to him by Roger de Poitou, 
to whom the King had given the land between the Ribble and 
the Mersey. His heirs, the Langtons, continued to hold the 
advowson of the church with but slight interruption till the early 
part of the seventeenth century, when it passed, on the death 
of Sir Thomas, son of Leonard, son of Sir Thomas Langton, 
Knight, without issue, in 1604, with the other Langton estates, 
under a special settlement, to his cousin Richard Fleetwood of 
Calwich, in the county of Stafford, Esq., who was created a 
Baronet by James L in 161 1. It was subsequently sold by his 
son. Sir Thomas Fleetwood of Calwich, Baronet, soon after 
the restoration of Charles II., to Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Knight 
and Baronet, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, with whose 
descendant and representative, Orlando G. C Bridgeman, Earl of 
Bradford, it still remains. 

' Mesne Tenures were created sometimes by sub-infeudation, sometimes by insertion 
of the middle-man (as was probably the case at Wigan). They were extinguished at 
length by change of law and custom and the seigneury becoming obsolete. 



History of tlu Church ami Maftor of IVigan. 3 

The first indubitable Parson, or Rector, of Wigan' that I 
meet with is 

Ranulf, Treasurer of Salisbury, who, as a non-resident, 
appears to have nominated a vicar or perpetual curate to serve 
the church in his place. On 12th June, 1199 (i John), a grant 
was made to Adam, clerk, de Frekclton, of the perpetual vicarage 
of the church of Wigan, at the request of Ranulf, Treasurer of 
Salisbury, Parson of Wigan.* Ranulf resigned the benefice in 
the 6th year of John (1205), when the right of patronage, for 
that turn, fell to the Crown, because the land of Makerfield was 
in the King's hands by reason of the death of Guarin Banastre ; 
and on the 23rd April. 1205, ^^e King presented his beloved clerk, 

ROBKRT DE DUNOLM^ (Durham), to the church of Wigan, 
vacant by the resignation of Ranulph, Treasurer of Salisbury, 
saving to Adam, the clerk, Vicar of the said church, his 
" Vicariar^ 

' In a pica of 31 Edw. I. (which will be quoted in its place) a claim was made to 
the patronage by the Lord of Standish. who a.sscrte<l that in the time of King Richard, 
one r'^had been presented, and instituted, to the ckapti of Wigan by a certain Ralph 
de Stamltsh, and receivevl the great tithes, &c., but the assertion was not proved, and 
his claim to the advowsun was rejected. 

• Chartcn of the Duchy of Lancaster (Appcndii to 21st Report of Deputy Keeper 
of Reconls P« 5) I hare no means of ascertaining when Ranulf was presented to 
the church of Wigan, but Canon Jones, Fasti Sarmm^ 345, gives 1 192 as the date of 
his ap{M>intment to the Treasurership of Salisbury, and 1210 as the date of his succes- 
sor's appointment. 

' A***/. Ck*irt. anil AW. P,ii. 6 John, m. 2, Robert de Dunolm was one of the 
King's Clrrks or Chaplain^ in I lot, in which year, on 2Sth December, the King's 
Treasurer had orders to |My out of the King's Treasury the sum of 25/. to Koliert de 
I>unolm and Roger de Suhamton, the King's Clerks, because they had sung [mats) 
liefore him at .\rgcnton on Christmas Day (A'tV. de Uhcraie 3 J oh. m. 2). On 6U1 
May, 1108, the <aroe King concede<i to Robert de Dunolm, his clerk, the church of 
\Vist«>w with the chapels of Ravel ami l'p|»ewad (Raveley and Cpwooi! in the count? 
of Hunts), the presentation to which belonged to the King by rexson of the Abbey of 
Ramcs [Ramsey] l>eing then vacant and m the King's hamls {A*tV. Chart, 9 Joh. m. 
I). In 1211 the ume Robert hail 401. allowed him for going into Poitou in the 
King'k service (Ar»< de PnsitU 12 Joh. m. \\ 

« This is the only instance 1 meet with of a Vicai of the church of Wigaa having a 



4 History of tfte Church and Manor of Wigan. 

How long Robert de Dunolm held the benefice I know not, 
but the next parson I meet with is the famous 

John Maunsell or Mansel, to whom the town of Wigan is 
indebted for its first charter of freedom. This remarkable man 
was distinguished rather as a soldier, diplomatist, financier, and 
statesman than as an ecclesiastic ; and but little of his time 
could have been passed at Wigan. He is said to have been the 
descendant of Philip Maunsell, who accompanied the Conqueror 
to England, and he was probably one of that family, but in 
certain pleadings in quo waranto^ taken in 1279, some years 
after his death, with respect to lands which he had held at 
Wappeham in Sussex, it was contended that he was an illegiti- 
mate son." It is probable that he was the son of a priest, for 
his sister Clarissa, the wife of Sir Geoffrey de Childerwick, is 
described by a contemporary chronicler as the daughter of a 
country priest, and this would account for the imputation of 
illegitimacy, though the question of the legitimacy of the sons 
of the clergy in England, and their right to inherit property, 
had not then been fully determined. 

From an inquisition taken after his death concerning certain 
houses in London,^ which were claimed by his cousin Amabilla 
de Rypun, the jury seem to have considered the point a doubt- 
ful one, but in the case of the estate at Wappeham the question 
which arose was not so much as to his legitimacy as to whether 
he had died seized of it or given it away before his death to the 
Prior and Convent of Tortynton. It was contended on the part 
of the Crown that John Maunsell had died seized of it, and that 
he was a bastard, wherefore the land should revert to the Crown 
because he had no legitimate heir. The jury gave no decision 
as to his bastardy, but found a verdict in favour of the Prior 
and Convent on the ground that the gift had been made to 

vested right to his Vicaria under the Parson or Rector, but there can be no doubt 
that the benefice was often afterwards held by a non-resident Rector, who may very 
likely have appointed a Vicar to act for him. 

' Placita de quo tvaranto^ p. 749. ■ Calendarium Genealogicum vol. i. p. 118. 



History o/ the Church and Manor of IVigan, 5 

them by Maunscll during his lifetime, so that he was not seized 
of it at the time of his death. 

lie seems to have been brouj»ht up under the auspices of King 
}{enry III., who made him one of his chaplains and loaded him 
him with preferment. In fact he seems to have accepted every- 
thing that came in his way or that fell to the King's disposal at 
that time. He is said to have held no less than three hundred 
benefices, producing an income of 4,000 marks yearly (i>., £2,666 
13s. 4//.) — an enormous sum in those days — and some have 
placed it at a much higher figure, so that he has been handed 
down to posterity as the greatest pluralist that ever lived, and 
"the richest clerk in the world." 

In 1234 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, being 
the first to hold that oflSce, then newly created. The appoint- 
ment was by close writ, in this manner : the King, by his writ 
directed to Hugh de Pateshull, treasurer, sent John Maunsell to 
reside at the E.xchequer of Receipts, and to have a counter-roll 
of all things pertaining to the said Receipt, and commanded the 
treasurer to admit him accordingly." 

In 1238 when the King sent a body of troops, under the 
command of Henr)' de Trubleville, to assist the Emperor 
Frederick against his rebellious subjects in the Italian provinces^ 
John Maunsell and William Ilardel, citizen of Ix>ndon, <iccom- 
panied the troops with a sum of money to pay the mercenaries. 
This was immediately after Easter, which fell on 4th April in 
that year. The English fought bravely for the Emperor during 
the whole of the following summer, and recovered some of the 
cities which had been held out against him. In these days it 
was not thought unseemly for an ecclesiastic to bear arms in the 
King's wars ; and on this occasion John Maunsell is sfKxially 
mentioned amongst those who distinguished themselves for their 
valour. 

In the year 1241 a serious disagreement arose between the 

• AW. C/*mj. 18 lien. III. m. 16. S\x<\qx* //uicrjr t*//Af£jtJI/^»ur,ro\, ii. p. 51. 



6 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

King and the bishop of Lincoln with respect to the preferment 
of Maunsell, and the zeal with which the King took the part of 
his chaplain shews how highly he had already risen in his favour. 
The cause of the quarrel was this : the prebend of Thame (Tame 
in the county of Oxon.) being vacant, was given by the bishop of 
Lincoln to Master Simon of London, penitentiary to the bishop of 
Durham ; but through the King's interposition a decree was 
obtained from the Pope by which John Maunsell obtained 
possession of it The bishop was highly indignant with the King 
for his interference on behalf of his chaplain, and Henry being 
then in Wales prosecuting his wars with the Welsh, the arch- 
deacons of Huntingdon and Leicester were sent by the bishop to 
reproach him for his conduct and admonish him to make amends 
for what he had done. This was refused by the King on the 
ground that an appeal had now been lodged with the Pope. 

One of the archbishops who was present at the interview urged 
that the bishop had a special privilege granted to him by the 
Pope which exempted him from providing for any one at the 
command of the Apostolic See, unless special mention was made 
therein of that privilege ; and since no such mention had been 
made in the papal order, the bishop was not bound to 
pay any heed to it. The archbishop, however, deprecated any 
further dispute in the matter, saying that, as Maunsell was a man 
of wisdom and learning, the bishop would be readily moved, at 
the request of the King and Maunsell, to provide him with as 
good or better preferment, which would be creditable to all 
parties ; the bishop begs with all humility that no other settle- 
ment may be made ; but he is prepared to pronounce the 
anathema against all those who shall injure, or encroach upon, 
the dignity of his church. When Maunsell, who was then in 
attendance upon the King, heard this message delivered before 
him and his council, he begged the King not to let him be the 
cause of any further dispute between them, saying that he was 
willing to give way, knowing that so long as the King Hved he 
should be sufficiently provided for. Henry resolved, however. 



History of tlu Church and Manor of Wigan, 7 

to defer the matter to another time, and when he had completed 
his arrangements for the defence t»f the borders during his 
absence, he returned to London. And here the bishop had also 
repaired with fuli purpose of pronouncing^ sentence of excommu- 
nication against John Maunsell in particular and against all the 
disturbers of his church and dignity. 

When this w;ts known to Maunsell he came to the King and 
resigned the benefice, upon which the King allowed the matter 
to drop. Hut Maunsell was immediately rewarded by having the 
richer benefice of Maidstone bestowed u[>on him by the King ; 
and in the same year he was likewise presented to the well- 
endowed church of Hoveden. By this step, moreover, the bishop 
of Lincoln was pacified, and, at the King's request, he preached 
a sermon in which he commended the humility of all concerned. * 

We next hear of Parson Maunsell in a military capacity. 
Having accompanied the King to France, he was with him in 
his French wars ; and in the battle, fought at Xantoignc, in 1242, 
where many were taken pris4)ners on both sides, among those 
captured by the English was one Peter Orige, high steward to 
the Count de lk>ulognc, who was personally taken by John 
Maunsell. On this occasion he is described by Matthew Paris 
as ''a clerk and special councillor of the English King who was 
reckoned not the least among brave men." Maunsell seems to 
have remained with the King during the winter months in his 
inglorious retreat at Bordeaux. 

In the following spring some feeble attempts were made by 
the English to recover lost ground, and the towns of certain 
rebel Gascons within the territories of Ik>rdeaux were reduced 
to subjection by those who remained faithful to the English King. 
At this time there was a certain monastery called Verines, where 
the King's rebellious subjects had taken refuge, and had made the 
church into a castle, or rather a robber's cave ; and the learned 
monk of St. Albans, who gives the fullest history of these events, 
tells us that *' while this fortress was being unsuccessfully besieged 

' Matthew Pant, mh mump. 



8 History of iJu Church and Manor of Wigan. 

and attacked by the King's faithful servants, one of the Kind's 
clerks and special councillors, named John Maunsell, a man 
brave in arms and of undaunted spirit, reproached the assailants 
for their slothfulness and loss of time, and while he was setting 
an example to the others of attacking the enemy with greater 
energy, and endeavouring to make a road for the besiegers, one of 
the besieged, who was located in a higher part of the church, cast 
a great stone upon him which crushed his leg with the joints and 
marrow in his bones. But when the same man was preparing to 
demolish the rest of his body with stones, his friends, who were 
most sincerely attached to him, covered him with their own 
bodies, and with large shields called targets, and thus with much 
difficulty rescued him from the peril of death. Being severely 
wounded, however, he remained for a long time in a weak and 
languishing state,' and when by the skill of the surgeons he was 
at length restored, he was promoted to still higher honours." 

He seems to have been acting as the King's Treasurer at that 
time; for by close writ of 7th July, 1242, dated at Xanctoii* 
(Xantoigne), John Maunsell is ordered to allow to Sir Peter Alard, 
Knight, whom the King had retained in his service, his stipend like 
the rest of the King's Knights.2 In this year he was presented by 
the King to a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and was advanced 
in the following year. 1243, to the Chancellorship of that church,^ 
to which a stall in the Cathedral of Wells was added.^ On 17th 
August. 1243, he was one of the witnesses to the King's Charter 
of Dover to his Consort Queen Eleanor, dated at Bourdeaux.s 
The King soon afterwards returned from his unfortunate expedi- 
tion to Gascony, and landed at Portsmouth about the 27th 
September ; and John Maunsell appears as witness to the King's 
convention, made at Westminster, with his brother Earl Richard, 
on the morrow of St. Andrew the Apostle, 28 Hen. III. (31st 



* Matthew Paris, sub. anno, * Rym. Fizd, vol. i. p. 247. 
5 Foss* Judges of England^ vol. ii. p. 392. 

* Hutchins' Dorsetshire, vol. ii. p. 534. 5 Rym. Fad. vol. i. p. 253. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wif^an, 9 

November, 1243).* It was in the summer of 1244. according to 
Matthew Paris, that the King apjK>inted Sir Poyntz Piper, 
Knight — (whom he had made acting steward of the Palace), and 
John Maunsell, Chancellor of St. Paul's, his principal councillors. 

Maunsell had been made Chancellor of St. Paul's during the 
vacancy of the See of London, by the King's patent dated on 
24th May, 1243,2 and he seems to have retained the office till 
about the year 1259. In the year 1245, he also obtained a stall 
at Chichester."^ 

In what year he became Rector of Wigan I do not find ; 
but it was probably about this same time, or at all events 
some time between the years 1242 and 1245-6, when Robert 
Hanastre, the young lord of Newton, was in his minority, 
and his lands in the King's custody. \Sy charter dated at 
WoodstcKk, on the 26th of August, 30 lien. III. (1246) the King 
concedes to his l>e!oved and faithful John Manscll, Parson of the 
church of Wygain, that his town of Wygain should be a borough 
for ever, and that the burgesses should have a guild-merchant 
and other the liberties and customs thereto belonging.^ The 
Rector's own charter of freedom to the burgesses, which was 
probably granted in the same or following year, runs thus : "To 
all sons of our Holy Mother church to whom this present writing 
shall come, John Maunsell, Rector of the church of Wigan, 
greeting in the Lord. Be it known to all men that I have given 
and conceded, and by this my present charter have confirmed, 
for myself and my successors, to the burgesses of Wegan, and 
their heirs or assigns, that they should have their free town, and 
all rights, customs, and liberties, as is contained in the charter of 
liberty and acquittance of the I^rd King ; and that each of them 
should have to their burgage five roods of land to themselves and 

• Rym. F€iJ. vol. i. p. 254. ■ I»at. 27 Hen. III. m. la 
' llutchtns* [\>riftfktrf^ vr>|. ii. p. 534. 

* The origiful charter to John M auniell U not eitant, Ixit it will lie (piren more fully 
%tihen v|Hralin|; uf the chatter xA inif^ximui i;raotcil to Adam dc Walinn, one of hit 
%ucce%->«jrv 



I o History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

their heirs and assigns ; and that they should grind at my mill to 
the extent of twenty measures without payment ; and that they 
should have in my wood sufficient for building and burning, 
together with quittance of pannage* for the nourishment of their 
own pigs within my wood, to have and to hold of me and my 
successors, to themselves and their heirs or assigns, freely, and 
quietly, and honourably, with common of pasture and with 
all other easements 2 belonging to the said town of Wegan, within 
and without the town ; and that they should have their pleas in 
porte-mote^ once in three weeks, and their verdict of twelve 
men, and amercements by the same ; paying therefor annually 
to me, or my successors, by themselves and their heirs^ or assigns^ 
upon each burgage twelve pence, at the four terms, viz. at the 
feast of St. John the Baptist threepence, at the feast of St. 
Michael the Archangel threepence, at the Nativity of our Lord 
threepence, and at Easter threepence, for all secular services, 
exactions and demands. And I the aforesaid John Maunsell, 
Rector of the church of Wegan, and my successors, will warrant 
all the above written to the said burgesses of the town of Wegan, 
and their heirs or assigns, against all men and women for ever. 
And that this donation and concession should remain firm and 
stable, I have set my seal to this writing, to which are witnesses, 
Thomas Gretlee, William le Butler, Mathew de Redman, at that 
time Sheriff of Lancaster, Robert Banastre, Robert de Lathome, 
William de Clifton, John de Lamar, John de Lee, Henry de 
Torboke, Adam de Molenex, Warren de Walton, Henry de 
Sefton, at that time Bailiff, and others." 

This charter was confirmed by Robert Banastre, Lord of 
Makersfild, and true patron of the aforesaid church, in the 



* Pannage was the right of feeding swine free of charge. 

' Easements ; pasturage in, or firewood to be taken from, the lord's woods, or other 
accommodation allowed to tenants, chiefly in respect of roads, water-courses, timber, 
fuel, stone quarries, or marl-pits. 

3 Porte-mote ; a local court having jurisdiction in matters of trade ; hence, probably, 
the origin uf the old Mt)ot-hall lately pulled down in Wigan. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 1 1 

presence of Thurstan de Holland, Robert dc Ilulton, Hugh Ic 
Norres, Alan Ic Norrcs, William dc Son^^ky, William dc Pcm- 
berton, Nicholas dc Wcgan, and others ; as also by Roger, 
Lord Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, the ordinary.' 

When Silvester de Everdon was elected Hishop of Carlisle, 
and resigned the great seal in November, 1246, it was delivered 
to John Maunsell. but whether with the title of Chancellor docs 
not appear, as no record exists of his appointment. A reference, 
however, is made to it on the patent roll of 3 1 I Icn. 1 1 1., dated 29th 
August, 1247, in which it is stated merely that he had the custotiy 

• A'.»/. Clans. 27 Eliz, pars, 2* (taken from a crrtitial copy of June 16, 1748, in 
IKtsvr&sion of the t^rl *»f HraMforil, the present |Kitron of the church of W'ljpin), 
bcinj; a c*»nfirmalory cliartcr o{ insprximus !»>• Thorna«» Stanley, lt«>h«»pof Man, an<l 
kector of the |»arish church of Wcj^an, ilatol at NVfjjan on loth Oct. 3 Kin. K.IK 
1561, who sign^ hiin^kclf ITioniA.* .St^/*rr/«/ fi Iniu^arum Eptuof-us^ in the presence 
of William (icr.inlc, F.>']., Kdmun«l Winstanley, (;ent., William Hanke, I'homas 
Ikcke, Huj;h Toj>pinjj, Thomas GcrrAr.lc, William Ily-le, Richard Hrereworth, 
lliomas Incc, an'l many others. To thu ch.irtcr \> ap}H:n<ic<i the following foot* 
note : '* .\/fi9u^jmJitm ifu.si iftL> Jt€ Af.tit >tnn » rr^-ni Jut.t J,*mtn*r Eliidh^ik.r A*fp'i4r 
I'urnm,} s^ftim^y Cdnt/ut /fitttJt^ Hunt M.tu^t pttdt^t^f luWr dt Wf^an rt hurgtnift 
eJHsAfm vuUt i^ntrunt in Canifit.irui dutu J.^mm^c Kf^in*t et f^rc^tulfrunt {unt rt i^tm 
Stnptum f'f.rdutitm ft f^tttrunt ut tdtm tn AV/i».ii C.iH,fi!.iria iu*%tr,t f*radutm irroiM" 
l,in /^"istt tid i/Uitrum i/uidrti A/t;t*ris tt hur gentium iHst tnttat et rf^miihomfs urifittm 
fr.rdi. turn tnunditm f.'rm^im (t (jfectum ejtn Ut*i df Xfrh%* t» z fr.'-u'ft /^n'lut fraj^n'^/mm 
tst irr.'tuiUum du et ijhk.* /'ruduttj.'* .Mathew ilc Kolman or Kailcman, one «>f the 
witno'tc's to the ori^nal ch.utcr, wherein he is ^tylvtl Sheriff of Lancashire, was 
.**hiriti from 1246 to the comnicnrcment of 1 249. < >f the oiherv, Th-imaA (irctlce or 
(jre^le, ISanui of Manchc-^tcr, «lic I in 46 lien. III. (12^11-2). Wriliaro Ic liutler, 
Ijur.l «»f W:ifrifv: m, •»uice\*«lcl hi* f.ither .Mmaric a* a min »r in 1235, an*! diet! 
in 130 J. K'llN-rt 'Ic Litli«>mc (vim of Kicliardt, oc* ur^ x^ l^ird of I^thome in 1248W 
Willumdc C l.f! m was l^tril of t I;ft<'n in 42 Hen. III. (1257-8.) Henry de TorUick, 
l>ord of that \tll, had a cliartcr of free wanen at Torh>)ck, A:c., 41 Hen. III. Adam 
de Mulinex wa* l>or"! i»f Seftt»n in 12 Hen. III., and pr-i^iaMy dcvc.wed in 40 Hen. 
III. (1255*6), when Wilham, hi* son and heir, wa> callol to receive the defjree of 
Kni|^}ith«HM|. ko({cr de Wrseham was ci>nsecrated Buhop of I.ichfieUI in 1245-6 
(30 Hen. III.) at I.yMns !'>' the PoIk-, much to the Kin^\ di«plea%ure, who at first 
withheld from him the tcmiMiralitici of the .See, which were, however, rrsttkfcil to 
him 25th March, 1246. He reikij;nc«l hix l<(%h<iprKk iftrr fen y<-ar% of conUaiU 
^icknc%> on 4th iK-c. , 1256. 



1 2 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

of the seal from the 8th of the preceding November to Friday, 
on the morrow of the decollation of John the Baptist (being the 
day before the date of the record), on which day the King sent him 
on an embassy to foreign parts. ' Another entry occurs in the 
following year, showing that he had returned from his mission, 
and that he had received back the custody of the seal on Monday 
after the feast of St. Lawrence (August, 1 248) ; and by the 
patent roll of 33 Hen. III. it appears that he held it till the 
feast of the nativity of St. Mary in that year, being 8th 
September, 1249.2 In none of these entries is he called 
Chancellor ; and as they were evidently made by his direction 
it is not likely that the title would have been omitted if it had 
belonged to him. 3 

In the letters patent by which this latter appointment is 
certified, he is styled Provost of Beverlac (Beverley), a post con- 
ferred upon him by the Archbishop of York, about the year 
1247. In that year (1247) he was sent with the Abbot of 
Westminster to Germany to arrange preliminaries with the Duke 
of Brabant for contracting a marriage between Prince Edward, 
afterwards King Edward I., and the daughter of the said 
Duke, but the embassy proved a failure, and the ambassadors 
"returned in sorrow, with empty saddle-bags, and each of 
them grieved that he had wasted his trouble and expences to 
no purpose.*'^ At the close of that year, viz., on 13th December, 
1247, Maunsell was elected Dean of Wimborne.s 

In 1249, when he was about to accompany the King and 
Queen to the enthronization of Boniface de Savoy, the uncle of 
Queen Eleanor, he was seized with a sudden sickness. Boniface 
had been elected Archbishop of Canterbury in 1240, and con- 
secrated in 1245 ; but his enthronement did not take place until 

' Foss*s yudges, vol. ii. pp. 392-3 ; from Rot. Pat, 31 Hen. III. m. 2 ; sec also 
Madox* History of the Exchequer ^ vol. I. p. 68. 
■ Rot. Pat, 32 lien. III. m. 5 and 33 Hen. IV. m. 3. * Foss*s Judges. 

^ Matthew Paris, siih. anno. s Hutcliins' Dorsetshire^ vol. i. p. 534. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 3 

the Feast of All Saints, ist November, 1249, when it was per- 
formed in the presence of the King and Queen, and almost all 
the Knglish preLites, who had been convoked for this solemnity. 
Matthew Paris informs us that "as the King was hastening 
thither with his attendants, John Maunsell, his special councillor, 
was taken seriously ill at Maidstone, being, as was stated, infected 
by [x>ison, from the effects of which he suffered for two days, 
and was with difficulty snatched from the gates of death by the 
diligent care of the physicians/* A few months later, namely, 
on the Feast of St Perpetua and St P^elicitas (7th March, 1250), 
he received the Cross, together with the King and many of the 
nobles, at the hands of Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury. 
But Henry probably had no real intention of proceeding to the 
Holy I^nd, and Maunsell also remained at home in attendance 
on the King.' 

When the King heard of the death of William de Raleigh, 
Bishop of Winchester (which took place at Tourainc on 1st 
September, 1250), he despatched John Maunsell and Peter Chace- 
pork, •* two of his chief clerks, whom he knew to be very clever 
in all kinds of arguments," to Winchester, charging them to use 
their best endeavours to induce the Chapter to elect his uterine 
brother. Aylmer de Lusignan, Bishop in his stead. The envoys 
were speedily followed by the King himself, who exerted his 
influence to constrain the Prior and Convent of St. Swithin at 
Winchester to comply with his demand. Under this pressure 
Aylmer was accordingly elected, though he was totally unfitted 
for the office both by his age and order ; nor was he consecrated 

until nearly ten years afterward.s. 

Matthew Paris rightly blames Maunsell for undertaking this 

commission, but he would probably have found it ver>' difficult 

' It «ras not ncccvvary for those who tfK>k the Crmi to prnccctl in {xmon to the 
Holy I«an«l. The Knut-u-^nati^ or iho^c mho hj<! vowol the cru»ailc, uerc |)tfriiiittc<l 
to C'lmiwiunil the ohli^ation by ni*>nvy fMytniiits whkh were ct>IIct.te«I un«lcr iMjal 
anthority. an<l alluitcl t»» th«j^* who i>t<>|N^?c«l !•• f'l!!.! thtir vow in |xi,-..'i!. 



14 Hisiory of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

to evade it ; and his strictures were in some measure prompted, 
no doubt, by the fact that Maunsell had lately offended the 
monks of St. Albans, of whom the learned historian was one, by 
supporting the claims of his own brother-in-law, Sir Geoffrey de 
Childenvick, against the Abbot and his Convent, in a controversy 
concerning certain rights of warren in the land of St Albans. 
The said Sir Geoffrey, who held under of the church of St. 
Albans, had married Clarissa, the daughter of a country priest 
and sister of John Maunsell. 

One of the best traits in MaunselFs character was his fidelity 
to his friends. To the King he was ever consistently faithful ; 
and we have an example of his courage in supporting his friends 
in trouble in the case of Henry de Bath and Philip Lovel, the 
King's Justices, who had fallen under the royal displeasure about 
this time, and who were indebted to Maunsell for the saving of 
their lives. One of them, Henry de Bath, appeared before a 
grand parliament held at London on 17th February, 1251, where 
he was fiercely attacked by his enemies. The King, we are 
told, was in the highest degree enraged against him, and rose 
up saying, **Any one who shall slay Henry de Bath shall be 
quit of his death, and I declare him quit of the same," after 
which he hurriedly departed from the assembly. De Bath's 
accusers were ready to fall upon him, but they were restrained 
by Maunsell, who thus addressed them : " My lords and friends. 
We ought not to act upon that which is said over hastily and in 
hot anger. When the moment of resentment is past, perhaps 
the King will be sorry that he has given utterance to such angry 
words. Moreover, if you do any harm to this Henry, here are 
the Bishop of London and his other friends, these Knights, of 
whom the former will take spiritual, and the latter temporal 
vengeance " ' ; and so his life was spared. 

In this year, 1251, Maunsell was sent into Scotland to treat 

* Matthew Pari.^. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 5 

for peace willi the Kinj^ of Scots, and by his mediation a 
marria^^c was arranged to take place between Princess Margaret, 
the Kinj^'s daughter, and Alexander III., King of Scots.* which 
was celebrated at York on 26th December of that year. 

In the following year, 1252, we find him again acting as a 
peacemaker. There had l>een a feud of several years standing 
between the Abbot of Westminster and the monks of his 
Convent This dispute was at length referred to the arbitra- 
ment of Richard. ICarl of Cornwall, afterwards King of Germany, 
and John Maunsell, by whom matters were amicably arranged. 
In this year he himself had a controversy with the Abbot and 
Convent of Tewkesbury concerning the tithes of their manor of 
Kingston, which Maunsell claimed as belonging to his church of 
F'erring. l^y the award of the Hishop of Chichester a com- 
promise was made, under which the tithes, both great and small, 
of Kingston were given up to the monks of Tewkesbur>'. subject 
to an annual payment of xoos. to the mother church of Ferring.* 

On \Ca\\ June, 1252, we find him testing a letter for the King, 
at Windsor.^ 

In 1253. John Maunsell. Chancellor of I>>ndon and Provost 
of IJeverley, was sent with \V[illiam de Hitton], Bishop of Bath 
and Wells, into Spain on a sjKxial embassy, with letters patent 
of 15th of May. directed to Alphonso, the young King of Castile 
and Leon (who had succeeded to his dominions in the previous 
year), to treat of a matrimonial alliance between the two Kings ; 
and Maunsell. whom the King calls his secretary, is entrusted 
with special j>ower to make oath, on the King's behalf, that 
he will adhere to any engagement that it may be considered 
necessary to make for promoting the said business.** The 
charter which they brought back, with its golden seal, is still 
preserved among the archives at Westminster. 5 A few days 

• Chr{tmui*tt rk^>m,r IVyifS. • AnH,tlft dt Tktokeiheria. 

» Royal lAittTA, tmtf'. Hen. 111. |». 9a * Kyrocr'* F^iJrra^ vul. i. i>. 29a 

* Koto's JuJ^n^ vul. ti. p. 394. 



1 6 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

later, by patent of the 24th May, the same envoys were com- 
missioned to treat for a marriage between the eldest son of 
the King of Aragon and Beatrice the King's daughter.' It is 
probable that this latter commission was only to be acted upon 
in the event of their failing to come to an agreement with the 
King of Castile. It appears that they could not come to terms 
with him on this occasion, but on the 8th of February, 1253-4, 
Maunsell was again despatched to Spain, with Peter (de 
Egcblanke), Bishop of Hereford, as his colleague, to treat for 
peace with the said Alphonso, King of Castile and Leon,* and 
by these two envoys a treaty was signed on the Kalends of 
April, 1254, wherein the preliminaries of a marriage were 
arranged between Prince Edward and Eleanor of Castile, 
the King's sister. 3 Maunsell afterwards accompanied Prince 
Edward into Spain, and was present at his marriage, which 
took place at Burgos,^ towards the end of October. 

In the autumn of the following year, 1255, Maunsell was sent 
to Edinburgh, with Richard, Earl of Clare, to inquire into the 
treatment of Princess Margaret.^ 

In January, 1256, he was made Treasurer of York, an office 
which he retained till his death. 

' Rymer's Faderay vol. i. p. 290. ■ Rymer*s Fadera^ vol. i. p. 295. 

3 At this pcritxi Maunsell occurs frequently as witness to the principal Charters of 
King Hen. III. Amongst others, he was witness to the Charter of 14th February, 
1254, by which the King gave to Prince Edward the whole land of Ireland (except 
the towns and counties of Dublin and Limerick and the town of ** Dalon,'* which the 
King retained in his own hands, 50 librates of waste land which he had assigned to 
his half-brother Geoffrey de Lusignan, and 40 librates of waste land which he had 
promised to Robert Walerand), the county of Chester, with its castles, towns, &c., 
his conquests in Wales, viz. : Rotheland (Rhuddlan) Dissard (or Disserth) and 
(}annoc, with all the other lands of I'ernechelac, the town and castle of Bristol, the 
castles of Montgomery, Carmarthen and Cardigan, with their appurtenances, the 
castle of Buelt (Builth), Peake Castle (in Derbyshire), Stamford, and Grantham, 
with the honor, Jersey, Guernsey, and the other isles of the sea, and the manor of 
** Frigido Mansello.'*'* — Rym. Fad,, vol. L p. 297. 

* Annah's de Burton, 

5 Annah's de Dunstaplid ; Rym. /Ia/., vol. i. p. 925. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 7 

In the same month, by patent dated at Windsor 24th January, 
he and Bertram de Crioyl were sent into France to make arrange- 
ments with the King of France for a prolongation of the truce, 
from the Feast of St. Remigins (13th Januar>'). when the late 
truce made with Louis by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, 
and Peter de Savoy, on the part of Henry, would come to an 
end, for the further space of three years.* 

After his departure, the King wrote him a long and interesting 
letter, dated from Oxford on the 30th of January, in which he 
addresses him as Provost of Hcverlcy, and informs him that he 
had sent messengers to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to 
ask his advice concerning the embassy to Castile, who advises 
liberal promises on behalf of the Gascon barons. As to the 
marriage of the King's daughter he advises that the King of 
Castile should be asked what provision he will make for his 
brother. As to the African affair he advises that Henry should 
express his willingness to go there for a crusade instead of to 
the Holy Land, under certain conditions. In this matter the 
King gives full discretion to Maunsell, inasmuch as he is better 
acquainted with the business, and has bestowed more labour 
upon it than any man living.^ 

In June of that year he went into Germany with the Earl of 
Gloucester, having full ix)wers to treat with the electors on behalf 
of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, concerning his election as King of 
the Romans.^ 

On the 13th September of the same year, the barons, 
knights, and others, of the counties of York, Lancaster, 
Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland, were com- 
manded to place themselves under the orders of John Maunsell 
in the event of Alexander. King of Scotland, needing any assist- 
ance against his rebellious subjects ; and Maunsell is ordered to 
go to the parts of Scotland to treat, on Henry's behalf, between 



• Rymcr'x Fa*ifra^ v«»l. i. p. 335. 



■ Royal Lcttcrv, A-w//. lien. III. p. III. 



I> 



1 8 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

him and the Scottish King, on the one side, and the rebels of 
the Scottish King on the other. i 

It was in this year that he gave his princely entertainment in 
London. Among his many and various preferments he held 
the prebend of Totenhall (now Tottenham or Tottenham Court), 
in the Diocese of London, and here, at his house in Tothill Field, 
he entertained the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland, 
Prince Edward, and most of the prelates and nobles of the 
kingdom. His guests were so numerous on this occasion that 
he was obliged to erect tents for their accommodation, and 
Stowe says that seven hundred dishes were scarcely sufficient 
for the first course. 

Fabyan gives an account of certain complaints against the 
mayor and aldermen of London, being heard in January, 1257, 
41 Hen. III., before John Maunsell and Henry Baa, meaning 
Henry de Bathonia, justices, Sir Henry Wengham, the Chan- 
cellor and others of the King's Council. And he goes on to 
say that soon after John Maunsell was " made knyte and chefe 
justyce of England ;" and that under that name, in the June 
following, he was one of the twelve peers appointed by the 
parliament of Oxford to correct the enormities that had crept 
into the government. He adds that he was thereupon dis- 
charged of his office, and Sir Hugh Bygot admitted in his 
place. 2 Foss, however, doubts the fact of his ever having been 
appointed chief justice, and says that the title is never added 
to his signature, or his description at this period, which he holds 
to be conclusive. 3 

It was in the year 1257 that Maunsell obtained from the King 
a charter for himself and his successors, the Parsons of Wigan, 
for ever, to hold a weekly market at their town of Wigan, and 
two fairs annually, of six days* duration.^ 

On the 20th of June in that year, his name occurs with those 

' Rymcr's Ficdcra^ vol. I. p. 347. • Fabyan's Chron, cd. of 181 1, pp. 340-343. 

5 Foss's Jttd&es, vol. ii. pp. 153, 394-5- 

* Placita dc que loaranto (temp. Edw. I.), p. 372. 



History of tlu Church and Manor of Wigan, 19 

of the Archbishop of Tarcntum. Simon, Earl of Leicester, and 
Peter de Savoy, as one of the special envoys named by Edmund, 
King of Sicily, with the authorization of his father, Henry, King 
of England, to approach Pope Alexander IV., and beg him to 
amend the conditions under which the Kingdom of Sicily had 
been conceded to him.' But he could not have gone into Italy 
at that time, because on the 20th July he was sent into Scotland 
with the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham, Roger dc 
Quincy, Earl of Winchester, the prior of Durham, and two others, 
for the purpose of settling the dispute between the Scottish King 
and certain of his nobles.^ 

In pursuance of the same business, by letters patent, dated at 
Westminster on the 4th of August in the following year, 1258, 
Henry gave full power to Simon. Earl of Leicester, and John 
Maunsc'll, Treasurer of York, to determine the said matter.^ 

In the meantime, when Simon de Montfort, Peter de Savoy, 
and others had been appointed, by patent of 4th May, 1258, to 
treat of peace with the King of I'Vance, Walter de Mcrton is 
ordered to remain, during the King's retirement, at London, 
with domino John Maunsell, Hugh le Bigod, and magistro 
Rostando, to affix the King's Seal to whatever they might 
arrange concerning peace with the King of France, and con- 
cerning the Sicilian business.^ 

Being a member of the King's council, sworn at Oxford on 
the 22nd of June, he was one of the two chosen by the barons 
to elect the council of twelve who should treat with the Kings 
council on behalf of the commons at the three i>arliaments 
appointed to be held in each year.** And the King, by letter 
of the 26th of June, dated from Oxford, after reciting that he 
had sworn to his nobles and magnates that a reformation of 
the realm should be made by twelve of his council chosen for 
the purpose, of whom Maunsell was one, and twelve chosen on 

• kymcr\ /rr«/r/ii, vtil. i. p. 359. ' Kyiiicr's h'tidtnt^ \'»I. 1. |» 36J, 

» /A*./, p. 37^1. * /'•/./, y. ?7l Annalti h r^urU^n, 



20 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

the part of the nobles, orders him to proceed with his colleagues 
in this business.! 

In the same year he had a charter for making a sheep-fold, or 
enclosure for sheep, namely, the bercaria of Sneydall, in the 
forest of Pickeringe,2 jn Yorkshire; and also a licence to crenellate 
or embattle his mansion at Sedgewyck, in the county of Sussex.^ 

At the close of that year or early in 1259, he was sent over 
to St. Omer with the Bishop of Worcester and others to meet 
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the King's brother and titular King 
of the Romans, to require from him an oath that he would 
observe the Provisions of Oxford before he landed in England, 
lest he should bring back with him his half-brothers and other 
foreigners who had been exiled by the said Provisions.* 

On the loth March, 1259, he was one of those sent to the 
King of France as an arbitrator on Henry's side, concerning the 
amount of money which ought to be paid to the English King 
for the maintenance of 500 knights for two years.s 

On the loth of May, 1259, Richard de Clare and John Maun- 
sell were sent to arrange for a marriage between John, eldest 
son of John, Duke of Brittany, and Beatrice, the King's daughter .6 
In the same month, as one of the great council of 24 who 
practically ruled the country at that time, he attached his signa- 
ture to the deed of confirmation of peace between the English 
and the French, by which Henry resigned to the French King 
the Duchy of Normandy and other French provinces, which had 

* Royal Letters, temp. Hen. III. p. 127. At the great council which met at 
Oxford on the nth of June, 1258, were passed the enactments known as the 
Provisions of Oxford. The chief objects sought to be obtained by the barons by 
these Provisions were, first, the exclusion of aliens from the command of the ro3ral 
castles or of the fortified ports ; and secondly, a control over the administration of 
justice and, what was then a branch of that administration, the assessment and 
collection of the revenue, by the appointment of the Chief Justiciar in Parliament, 
and by the substitution of officers chosen by the several counties for the Sheriflfs 
named by the Crown. 

■ Col, Rot. Pat, 43 Hen. III. m. I. No. I. ' Ibid, m. 1$. No. 42. 

* Chronicon Thonur Wykes ; BLiauw*s Barons' War^ p. 84. 

5 Royal Letters, /<*/;//. Hen. HI. p. 138. ^ Rymcr's Fadera^ vol. i. p. 382. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 2 1 

long been lost, but had never been formally disclaimed. To 
this deed, which bears date the 20th of May, 1259, there are 
16 seals appended. That of John Maunsell bears, on one side, 
an antique head with an inscription from a Roman Imperial 
coin, on the other, half of an armed man on a tower, beneath 
which is a kneeling figure.' Perhaps this may have reference 
to his narrow escape from destruction at the seige of Vc^rines 
in 1243. 

A few days later, on the 20th of May, 1259, ^^ King of 
England gives plenary power to Margaret, Queen of France, 
Richard, Earl of Gloucester, Peter de Savoy, and John Maunsell, 
or any of them who shall be present at the time, to treat for the 
proposed marriage between John, son of John, Duke of Brittany, 
and his daughter Beatrice.' 

By the convention which ensued, the preliminaries of the said 
marriage were arranged, and the King undertook to restore to 
the Duke of Brittany the Earldom of Richmond. The letters 
of the Duke*s proctor directed to the King, and the letters of 
the King's envoys which they wrote to the King and sealed 
with their own seals, were left in the hands of Sir John 
Maunsell, in the presence of the King and his council, in the 
Queen's chapel at Westminster, on Monday next after the Feast 
of St Luke the Evangelist (20th October), 1259.3 

Towards the end of November the King went over to France, 
and Maunsell probably accompanied him, for we find him attest- 
ing his letters at St. Denis on the 1 8th of January, 1260, and 
at St. Omcr on the 19th of February.^ 

Maunscirs enemies took advantage of his absence to try and 
poison the mind of the Pope (Alexander IV.) against him by 
false accusations; and on the i6th of January, 1260, we find 
Henry writing from St. Denis to the Pope in his defence. In 
this letter he begs the Pope not to believe the charge they had 
brought against Maunsell of beating a proctor at York, and 

' Blaauw't /fdratti* War, |>. 86. ■ Kymcr\ FaJrra, vt>l. L \\ 3S6. 

» /Ai</, p. 391. * k«iyal Ixrltcf^. |»|«. 1 52, t$$. 



22 History of tlie Church and Mattor of Wigan. 

assures him that he is entirely innocent of the charge, having 
been in attendance on the King himself in London at the time 
he was accused of having committed the offence J 

The King was detained in France longer than he intended, 
having been overtaken by a severe illness. He returned to 
England about Easter, 1260 ;2 and there is a fnetnoratidum of 
the 20th of August in that year, which shews the confidence 
that was reposed in John Maunsell. The metnorandum refers 
to a treaty which had lately been made with the King of 
Castile by the King's embassadors at Bourdeaux, and states 
that certain letters patent, and four close writs of a similar 
character, which are enrolled on the back of the close roll for 
that year, had been examined by John Maunsell and accepted 
by him, and delivered by his precept, after being counter- 
signed, to John de la Lynde to be taken to those parts.^ 

When the King afterwards shut himself up in the Tower of 
London, and ordered the gates of the city to be closed against 
all comers, Maunsell was one of the small number of the council 
who were allowed free ingress and egress to and from his 
presence. 

In the following spring the King obtained a Bull from Pope 
Alexander IV. shortly before he died, for annulling the Provisions 
of Oxford, which was dated at the Lateran on 13th April, 1261.^ 
The absolution from the oath having been read publicly at 
Paul's Cross on the 2nd Sunday in Lent, Henry now repudiated 
his obligation, and acting, as it is said, under the advice of John 
Maunsell, Robert Walcrand and Peter de Savoy,^ proceeded to 
abrogate the statutes that he had sanctioned at Oxford. 

On the Sth of July, 1261, Maunsell was one of those to whom 
the differences between the King and the Earl and Countess of 
Leicester were agreed to be referred.^ 

On the Sth of August the Archbishop of Canterbury writes to 



' Royal Letters, p. 146. 

3 Rymcr's Ftcdcra^ vol. i. p. 401. 

-^ AnnaUs di Oseiwia, 



' Annales Cestriettsis, p. 78, 
■♦ Blaauw's Barons* IVar^ p. 91- 
* Royal Letters, p. 175. 



History of t lie Church and Manor of Wigan. 23 

John Maunscll, sending; the Pope's mandate of the month of May 
last, addressed to the said Archbishop, the Bishop of Norwich, 
and John Maunsell, Treasurer of York and papal Chaplain, and 
orders him by virtue of the said mandate to proceed in person 
to Hugh le Bigod, and admonish him to deliver the castles of 
Scarborough and Pickering to the King, intimating to him that 
if he refuses to do so the Archbishop will proceed to excommu- 
nicate him in accordance with the form of the mandate.' 

This mission, which it must have requiretl some courage to 
execute, he evidently discharged, for on the iij Kal. of September 
(30 August), the day after his election, the new Pope Urban IV.* 
writes to Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury, and John MaunselL 
Treasurer of York and Chaplain to the Pojk\ acknowledging 
their letter of xi Kal. of September (22 August), received that 
evening, quoting the late Poj)e's Bull, and informing him that 
they had personally approached Sir Hugh le l^igod at 
Kyrkelymoreshesd' (Kirby Moorsidc), and carefully admonished 
him to give up the said castles to the King, who made answer 
that he had received them by the will and command of the King 
and his sworn magnates, under his corporal oath that he would 
guard them faithfully, and he would give them up to no man 
unless by the will and command of the said King and his 
magnates. But he professes that he will readily give them up 
to the said King, with the express advice and will of the said 
magnates or the greater part of them.^ Whether these castles 
were eventually given up to the King or not I do not learn, 
but the new Poikt d<K*s not aj)pear to have given any further 
mandate in the matter. 

In the following Novem!)er a treaty for jxMce was made 
between the King and his barons, which was ratified at London 

• Kymcf\ /IrY/Tii, vi>l. i. p. 40S. 

■ AlcxamliT IV. «lic»l on the J$th uf Nf-iy, I2''>i, .m-l I'llMn IV. ».\* clcctol «»o 
the 29tli <»f Aujju^t, .inl cr«»wnt'i on iho 4t!j of >t ■.•.ctn'-.r, l j''»l. — Ni«..»l.i>* Chr.n.! ;y 
t'/ I/nL'n\ 

' kymer*'* FitMt.i, v««l. i. p. 40/ 



24 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

on the vigil of St Nicholas (sth December), 1261. By this 
treaty it was provided that three persons should be chosen on 
either side to arbitrate between them, of whom John Maunsell 
was one of those named on the King's side. If they could not 
agree, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, was to be added as a seventh 
arbitrator ; if they still disagreed the King of France was to be 
added as an eighth ; i and to him the matter seems to have been 
eventually referred. 

On the 1st of January, 1262, letters patent were issued by the 
council charging John Maunsell with stirring up strife between 
the King and his nobles. 2 Letters to that effect were also sent 
to Rome ; and the King thought it necessary to clear his 
faithful servant in the eyes of the Pontifical Court Writing 
from Westminster on the ist of January (the same day on which 
the letters patent were issued in his name) to the College of 
Cardinals, he says "We have been informed that certain persons, 
forgetful of their proper honesty, have falsely and maliciously 
represented to the supreme Pontiff, that our beloved and faithful 
John Maunsell, Treasurer of York, has been endeavouring to stir 
up strife and dissension between us and our nobles^ to the 
detriment of our nation and public disturbance of our kingdom ; 
whereat we are much moved and disturbed, especially because he 
never at any time endeavoured to set us against any notable 
person of our realm, or would have had dissension or a scruple of 
discord between us on any account, except that he has effectually 
and constantly stood by us (as he was bound by his fealty to do) 
in upholding and preserving our rights and dignity, and found 
the means of hindering the accomplishment of those^things which 
seemed to be undertaken to cause trouble. And forasmuch as 
we know the said John (who was brought up under our tutelage, 
and whose disposition, morals and merits, we have known from 
his youth up) to have been ever diligent and faithful in our affairs 
and those of the realm, we are bound to shew him our royal 

' Annalis de Oseneia, ' Cal. Rot, Pat, 46 Hen. III. a terge, m, i. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 25 

favour, and wc especially commend him to your good will, 
intimating with all truth to your holiness that he is entirely 
innocent of the crime that has been laid to his charge, wherefore 
we claim it of your love that you should put no faith in such 
detractors and evil prompters, and that you should be ready to 
treat him, if it please you, with all the more aflfection and favour 
because others have endeavoured to defame him and take away 
his character." • 

Such a character given by a King to his subject after so many 
years of service, bears the highest testimony to his unswerving 
fidelity to his sovereign prince. 

While awaiting the result of the reference to the French King, 
Henry thought it expedient to obtain a second dispensation from 
the new Pope, and John Maunsell was the confidential agent 
employed for this purpose. In a letter dated 6th February, 1 262, 
one Roger Lovell, clerk, informs the King that Master John 
Maunsell has obtained for him the fullest release from his 
obligations.* This second bull was dated from Vitcrbo, v. KaL 
Mar. (25 February.)' 

The Archbishop of Canterbury. John Maunsell, and others, 
were enjoined to publish it in all churches with ringing of bells 
and lighted tapers ; and it was accordingly proclaimed at West- 
minster on the 2nd of May, 1262.^ 

In July, 1262, Maunsell accompanied the King to France as 
keeper of the great seal, and returned with him to England in 
December following 5 

The said John Maunsell, and Simon de Walton, bishop of 
Norwich, were entrusted with power, by the Pope, to absolve the 
King and his nobles from the oath they had taken at Oxford, 
which was repudiated and annulled by the Roman pontiff as an 
unlawful one. They were moreover furnished with authority to 

• Ryiiicr*s Fudira^ vol. i. p. 415. 

• Royal Letters, Ump, Ilcn. III. p. 206, No. 950. 

» Rjincr*s Fittifra, vol. i p. 416. * HLaaaw*» B^nms* h^ar, p. 96, note 

s Ejrtoo's AmiiquitM 0/ Skrc/skirt, vol i. p. 359. 

£ 



26 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

excommunicate all who refused to be absolved from the oath. « 
This, and the great activity which they had shewn in the 
King's behalf, brought down upon them the fury of the barons, 
who plundered their lands, carried off all their moveable goods 
wherever they could lay hands on them, and sought to put them 
to death. 2 The eminent services rendered by Maunsell, and 
his invaluable council, rendered it expedient for the King to keep 
him with him as long as possible ; and Henry in a letter of 5th 
February, 1263, informs the King of France that, being unable 
to spare his beloved and faithful John de Maunsell and Robert 
Walerand, on account of his own sickness^ the Welsh war, and 
other important business, he sends the bishop of Exeter and 
others in their stead as envoys to settle the terms of peace.^ But 
the rage of the barons against Maunsell now became so great 
that, at about midsummer of that year, he was obliged to 
escape from their vengeance by leaving the country. The King 
and Queen had shut themselves up in the Tower of London 
with the said John Maunsell, Robert Walerand and a few 
others, 4 and Maunsell leaving the Tower, with the Countess de 
Lisle, 5 by the river Thames, proceeded to Dover Castle with 
Edmund, the King's younger son, from whence, on the feast of 
Saints Peter and Paul (29th June), he crossed the sea to Boulogne 
where he met with an honorable reception ^ at the hands of 
Gerard de Rodes, a French knight. 7 

He was pursued at this time by Henry, son of Richard, Earl 
of Cornwall, who had joined the movement of the barons against 

• Chronicon Thofna Wykts, » Ibid. 
3 Royal Letters, temp. Hen. III. 

^ Chronicon WilUlmi de Rishanger, Edited bj J. O. Halliwell for the Cunden 
Society, additional notes, p. 118. 

5 Annales de Dunstapiia, This lady, whom the Annalist calls Countess de Lisl^ 
was Isabel, Countess of Devon and Albemarle, and lady of the Isle of Wight She 
was the daughter and eventual heiress of Baldwin, Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle 
of Wight, and widow of William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle. 

* Kishangcr's Chronicle^ as before. ^ Blaauw's Barons'* War, p. 106. 



History of tlu Church and Manor of IVigan. 2 7 

his uncle, and who incautiously followed MaunscU to Boulogne, 
where he was siezed and imprisoned by Ingelram de Fiennes.' 

The King now agreed with his barons to refer the settlement 
of their disputes to Louis, King of France, to whose court he at 
once repaired. The barons also sent their representatives to the 
court of Louis, where they found the ever ready John Maunsell,* 
who had already procured letters from the Pope to the French 
King. Louis gave his award on the 23rd January, 1264, in 
favour of Henry, annulling the Provisions of Oxford, but the 
barons refused to abide by his decision, and the result was a 
civil war in which the English King was defeated and taken 
captive at the battle of Lewes on the 14th of May, 1264. But 
all this is matter of general English history, which we need not 
follow here any further. 

The Tewkesbury Annalist informs us that Maunsell's lands 
were seized by Simon dc Montfort and given to his (Simon's) 
son. In fact, they had already been seized by his enemies as 
soon as he had left the country, and by letters patent, issued in 
the King's name, in July or August, 1263, all the hereditaments 
in England which belonged to John Maunsell were given to 
Simon de Montfort, junior, son and heir of Simon, Earl of 
Leicester.^ Almaric de Montford, another of the Elarl of Lei- 
cester's sons, succeeded to Maunsell's office of Treasurer of 
York, to which he was appointed on 7th February, 1265, after 
the said Maunsell's death ;^ and William de Montfort to his 
prebend in the church of Bruges (Bridgnorth, in the county of 
Salop), 5 

In the meantime, on the 14th of February, 1264, the King 
deputes his royal consort Queen Eleanor, Peter, Earl of Savoy, 
and John Maunsell, Treasurer of York, to receive from Louis^ 
King of France, the money which Louis owes to the English 



• AnnaJa dt PunstapUa, ' Anntila «// 7'kfohesS<riti . 

' Cal, AW. Pat, 47 !!cn. HI. m. lO. • Lc Ncus* A'./ //. 



28 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

King. This is the last official business in which we find Maun- 
sell engaged. Having been stripped of all his possessions, with 
his Royal patron in captivity in England, he died in poverty and 
in exile at the close of that year or early in 1265. 

Thus ended the career of this remarkable man, who exercised 
a greater power than any other subject during the reign of King 
Henry III. and who seems to have possessed an almost 
unbounded influence over his Royal Master. Whether this 
influence was always wisely used or not he never swerved in his 
allegiance to the King, whose letters preserved in the patent 
and close rolls shew how fully he trusted him in all his afTaira 
He must also have been a man of extraordinary courage, talent, 
and powers of persuasion, for the delicate embassies on which 
he was despatched were almost invariably successful. 

When Henry was about to start for Gascony, by his will dated 
at Suthwyk on the Tuesday next after the feast of the apostles 
Peter and Paul (ist July), 1253, he named Maunsell one of his 
executors.' 

John Maunsell's chief ecclesiastical preferments were the chan- 
cellorship of St. Paul's, the Deanery of the Royal collegiate 
church of Wimborne in Dorsetshire, the Treasurership of York, 
the Prepositure of Beverley and the Rectory of Wigan ; besides 
which, we know him to have held the Rectory of Hoton 
(Hoveden or Howden) with Skem, in the county of York, the 
churches of Ferring, in Sussex, Sawbridgeworth, in Dorset, and 
Maidstone, in Kent (then probably a Rectory), the prebend of 
Totenhall, in the Diocese of London, that of Crackpole St. 
Mary's, which he afterwards exchanged for that of Leicester, in 
the Diocese of Lincoln, and prebends in Wells, Chichester, and 
the Collegiate church of Bridgnorth in Shropshire, as also, for 
a short time, the prebend of Fenton in the Diocese of York, to 
which he was appointed by the King, 29th November, 1258. 
He was also chaplain to the King and to the Pope. He appeals 

* Rymcr's FcciUra^ vol. i. p. 496. 



History of Uu Church and Matior of Wigan. 29 

moreover to have held lands and manors in more than half a 
dozen counties, most of which were afterwards given by Simon 
de Montfort to his son Simon. 

He founded a house of regular canons at Romney in Kent, 
and also a priory for regular canons of the order of St Augustine 
at Bilsington in the same county, to whom he gave his manor of 
Bilsington superior or East Bilsington, all his lands at Poire and 
Gozehale, and also his lands at Ecche, and of which he nominated 
William as the first Prior." 

It is probable that he was a benefactor to the University of 
Oxford, for the executors of John Pontysera, bishop of Winchester, 
gave to that University the sum of two hundred marks for the 
use of the Masters and Scholars, on the following conditions, 
namely, that on the eve of St. Nicholas annually, the said bishop 
should be commemorated in a mass for the dead, with special 
remembrance made of John Maunsell and John, nephew of the 
bishop, and that every year the priest making circuit of the 
schools with the bedel should recite the names of the aforesaid 
persons ; and that at the commencement and close of each term, 
and in processions and masses celebrated by the University, 
special remembrance should be made of the said persons. A chest 
should be provided for the money so bequeathed, and needy 
scholars of all faculties should be allowed to borrow from the 
chest as follows : " A regent Master may borrow forty shillings, a 
non-regent two marks and a half, a bachelor two marks, a sophist 
one mark, and every scholar thus borrowing shall be bound to 
say for the souls of the aforesaid persons the Lord's prayer and 
the Ave Maria each five times." The University accepted the 
bequest and promised to fulfil the conditions. ^ 

At an inquisition taken on the death of John Maunsell lately 
deceased, in 1265, with respect to certain houses of his in London, 
the jury stated that they were ignorant who was his nearest heir, 

' Hasted*s AVm/, vol. iii. p. 470. • Munimenia Acddanua (luintcd). 



30 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

neither did they know whether he had bequeathed those houses 
to his cousin Amabilla de Rypun or not* 

From what has been stated it is clear that Parson Maunsell 
could never have resided at Wigan, and his spiritual duties were 
probably discharged by a resident vicar, of whose name we have 
no mention. But on account of his charter of freedom to the 
inhabitants of Wigan and the other immunities which he ob- 
tained for them, his history must ever be a matter of interest 
to them as well as to his successors, the parsons of Wigan. 

Maunsell was succeeded at Wigan by Master RICHARD, who, 
as Rector of Wigan, joined Sir Robert Banastre, the patron, in 
settling on the Cathedral church of Lichfield an annual pension 
from the revenues of the benefice. From a copy of the original 
document, made in 1625 by Anthony Nichols notary public 
and preserved in the Diocesan Registry at Chester,^ it appears 
that Sir Robert Banastre, Knight, with the assent of Roger de 
Meyland, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and with the consent 
of Richard, then Rector of Wigan, gave to God and the church 
of St. Mary and St. Chad of Lichfield thirty marks of silver 
annually to be paid from the fruits of the church of Wigan, by 
the hands of the Rector for the time being, of which fifteen were 
to be paid within the quinzaine of St. Michael and fifteen within 
the quinzaine of Easter, to the following uses, namely : ten 
marks for six boys to be elected by the bishop to minister in the 

' Inq, post, mort, 50 Hen. HI. No. 9. 

■ Bishop Bridgeman's Register, folio 484, see also Gastrell's Notitia Cestriensis^ 
vol. ii. pp. 244, 245, who quotes from Lichf. Dioc. Reg. Lib. v. fol. 85 b. This 
pension has continued to the present day, though the amount has varied at different 
times. In the Valor EccUsiasHcus, temp. Hen. VIII. it is put dX£2JQ. In the Notitia 
Cestriensis of Bishop Gastrell, who was consecrated in 17 14, it is described as a pension 
of 30 marks /^ annum, A sum of £\6 is now (1887) paid annually by the Rector 
of Wigan to the Sacristan of Lichfield Cathedral, who informed the writer, in 1878, 
that the pension is now disposed of as follows, namely : to St. Paul's Cathedral, 
£\ y, 4^/. ; to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, £2 14J. %d, ; to bread (St. Thomas' 
Dole) to all householders of the close, Lichfield (being Vicars choral and a few otliers), 
£,\ \ to the Sacrist, £2 12s. &/. ; Total ;f 16. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 3 1 

said church ; ten marks towards the sustcntation of the fabric, so 
long as the same bishop should live, and after his decease five 
marks to be expended annually on the anniversary of his death, 
in bread for the poor, to be given by the hands of those whom 
the bishop shall depute, and the other five marks to be dis- 
tributed on the anniversary of the death of the said bishop, 
among the Vicars solemnly serving in the said church, by the 
hands of the Sacristan ; the residue to be given to the Sacristan 
of the same place for his own use. Each Rector of the church of 
Wigan, immediately after his institution, should come to the 
church of Lichfield, and there, before the Dean and Chapter, 
should swear to pay the thirty marks annually according to the 
prescribed form ; and if at any time he should cease from paying 
the said sum of money, it should be lawful for the said bishop 
to compel him to pay it by suspension, excommunication, and 
interdict. The original donation was attested and dated at 
Lichfield, vi. Id. July (July 10), 1265. 

In 2 Edw. I. (1273-4) there was an assize taken between the 
Abbot of Cokersand and the parson of Wigan, concerning cer- 
tain tenements in Halghton in Shaldcfordshire,' (/>. the hundred 
of Salford). It is probable that Master Richard held the Rectory 
till 1277, in which year the benefice seems to have been vacant ; 
for by a judgement delivered in ii. Edw. I. (1283) it appeared 
that, in 1277, the right to the advowson of the church had been 
disputed, but the Judges of both Benches then decided that 
Robert de Banastre, holding of the King, was the true patron. ^ 

I presume that Adam de Walton was the Rector presented 
at that time. Master Adam de Walton, Parson of Wigan, was 
summoned to appear at Lancaster on the octaves of the Holy 
Trinity, 20 Edw. I. (9 June, 1292), to show by what warrant he 

' Tanner Notiiia^ Cokenand, p. 232. 

■ Soiilia Cfsirunsis, vol. li, p. 243; Bainet* //iV/. 0/ Ijimatkirt^ vol. iii, jv 531, 
who quotes from IHanta irrm, /\muA, 9 Edw. I. AW. ^ Afm, AW, In the Ah^nvi* 
mho PtacU^rum^ p. 201, it is stated that jud^meiit for Robert de Banastre 



32 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

claims to have a market, and fair, and emends of assize of bread 
and beer in Wigan. And by what warrant he claims for himself 
and his men of the same town to be quit of suit to the county 
and wapentake ; and to have a free borough, infangenthef, and 
utfangenthef, in the said town, privileges which pertain to the 
crown and dignity of the King, without the licence and will of 
the King himself and his predecessors, the Kings of England. 
And Master Adam came and produced two charters, made by 
the lord Henry, father of the King that now is, to a certain John 
Maunsell, formerly parson of the same church, of which the one 
IS dated in the 30th year of his reign, i This charter was 
conceded and confirmed by the said King, for himself and his 
heirs, to his beloved and faithful John Maunsell, parson of the 
church of Wigan, that his town of Wigan should be a borough 
for ever ; that the burgesses of the same borough should have 
a Merchant-Guild, with a hanse, and all the liberties and free 
customs to that guild belonging ; and that no one who is not of 
that guild should make any merchandize in the aforesaid borough 
except by the will of the same burgesses. He also conceded to 
the same burgesses and their heirs, that they should have sok,*sak,3 



delivered on the morrow of St. John the Baptist (June 25), 2 Edw. I. (though it is 
recorded among the pleas of the 9th year of that reign, viz. 9 Edw. I. RoU 5) : and 
to this record a foot-note is appended to the effect that in Michaelmas Term, 23 Edw. 
III. {Coram Rfge Roily 21), this judgment was reversed by reason of errors, and the 
King was adjudged to have his action against Robert de Langeton, cousin and heir of 
the said Robert Banastre, which the King's grandfather had against the aforesaid 
Robert Banastre. From which it appears that it was King Edward I. who had 
claimed the advowson against Banastre in 1277. It will be seen hereafter that the 
King eventually restored the patronage to the Langtons. 

' According to the printed copy of the Wigan charters in the Wigan Free Library, 
this charter was dated at Wodestok, on the 26th of August, 30 Hen. III. (1246). 

' Sole, or socage, was a tenure of lands by which a man was enfeoffed freely, or in 
fee simple, without any military service, relief, ward, or marriage, paying only to the 
lord a stated rent in money or provisions. 

3 Sak was the privilege or franchise, enjoyed by the lord of a manor of determining 
in his own local court the disputes of his tenants ; so that in this case the men of 
Wigan would be tried by their own townsmen. 



History of the Church and Manor of IVigan, 33 

toI,> thcm,^ and attachment, within the said borough, and in- 
fangenthef,^ and utfangenthcf,^ and that they should be free, 
throughout the whole land, and through all the sea-ports, of toll, 
lastage,^ pontage,^ passage,7 and stallage,® and that they should 
do no suit to county or wapentake for their lands which they 
hold within the aforesaid Borough ; he also conceded to them 
that whatsoever traders should come to the Borough aforesaid 
with their merchandise, from whithersoever they came, whether 
foreigners or others, so that they entered the land peaceably, 
and with the King's permission, should pass safely and securely 
to the aforesaid Borough with their merchandize, and should 
remain there in security, and safely return from thence upon 
paying the customary dues ; and he commanded that the said 
vill of Wigan should be a free Borough for ever. By the 
other Charter of the same King Henry, dated in the 42nd year 
of his reign, the said King conceded, for himself and his heirs, 
to his beloved and faithful John Maunsell, parson of the 
Church of Wigan, that he and his successors, parsons of the 
said Church, for ever should have a market at their Borough of 

' Toll or thol, in the Saxon charters, was the liberty of buying or selling, or keeping 
m market. In later times it signi6c(l the customary dues or rent paid to the lonl of m 
manor for his pnifits of the fair or market, or it sometimes implied a liability to pay 
such duo by traders in any market. 

' Them, or theam, was a franchise which gave to the lord of m manor an mbsolate 
jurisdiction over his villeins and natives. 

' Infangenthef was a liberty granted from the King to some lords of a manor to try 
all thieves, being their tenants within their own court. 

< Utfangenthef was a similar liberty of trying foreigners or strangers apprehended 
fof theft within their own fee. 

s Lastage was the custom exacted in markets for selling wares by the I.a^, of 
wholesale quantity ; a I^st ui pitch was twelve barrels <>f hides or skins twelve do/en, 
of com, ten quarters of leather ioo skins. 

* Pontage was a fee, custom, or toll levied on travellers or passengers over a bridge, 
towards its repair and maintenance. 

^ Passage was a similar toll levied on persons (lassiiig any sfM, with or without 
carriages. 

* Stallage implied the does asscsaable on persons who erected stalls in any fair or 
markcL 

F 



34 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Wigan on Monday in every week, and two fairs there for six 
days, namely, on the Vigil, the day, and the morrow, of the 
Ascension of our Lord, and on the Vigil, the day, and the 
morrow of All Saints, unless that market and fair should be to the 
injury of neighbouring markets and fairs. Wherefore he claims 
by these charters to have a market and fair in the aforesaid vill, 
and emends of bread and beer on the days of the market and 
fairs as a liberty appurtenant and annexed to the said market 
and fair, &c., and so in like manner on every day throughout 
the whole year. And in like manner he claims for himself and 
his men of that vill that they should be free of suit to County 
or Wapentake, and that he should have a free borough with 
infangenthef and utfangenthef, and to make attachments, which 
pertain to the aforesaid liberties, by his bailiffs in the same vill ; 
but attachments for pleas of the crown, and the execution of 
briefs and precepts determinable by the King's Justices, or the 
county, are made by the King's bailiff. Subsequently the afore- 
said Master (Adam) said that he did not claim Utfangenthef 
although it was contained in his charter. William Inge, who 
prosecuted on behalf of the crown, pleaded that he (Master 
Adam) had arrogated to himself the emends of assize of bread 
and beer on the authority of the aforesaid charter for a market 
and fair, whereas these liberties are not to be inferred from the 
said charter. He also says that the same Master Adam took 
emends of assize of bread and beer in the said vill on every day 
in the year, and that he exercises the liberty of infangenthef 
and utfangenthef otherwise than he ought to do. He also says 
that the same Master Adam and his bailiffs of the said vill 
had before them, on pleas of sacrabordy felons accused of 
felonies committed beyond their jurisdiction, and those felons 
had put themselves upon a jury of their country. He had tried 
that matter by men of the aforesaid town, whereby some had 
been improperly condemned, and some had been freely dis- 
missed. Master Adam says that he does not claim to determine 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 35 

picas dc tfciito namio^ in the said Borough, nor has he ever 
determined them, neither has he abused the aforesaid liberties, 
as is laid to his charge, and he begs that this may be inquired 
into. A Jury was accordingly impanelled, consisting of William 
le Butiller, Robert de Lathun, Nicholas de Leycestre, Henry dc 
Kyghele, and John de Ewyas, knights, William de Moeles, Henry 
de Tyldesley, Richard de Urmeston, Alan de Bisheton, Nicholas 
Blundel, Robert de Bolde, and Alan de Halshal, who stated 
upon oath that the aforesaid Master Adam and his predecessors 
from the time of the making of the said charters have been used 
to hold fairs and markets in the said borough, and when any 
one is convicted of breaking the assize of bread and beer he 
is amerced in the court of the same Master Adam in the afore- 
said vill, and if he should be convicted once, twice, thrice, or 
more, he is always amerced for a fault of this kind, and not 
punished in any other way by judgment. And as to infan- 
genthef they say that a certain Roger de Ashe ton caused a 
certain William le Procuratur detected with the stolen goods 
in his possession to be attached by the said Master Adam's 
bailiff for a certain ox which he asserted that the aforesaid 
William had stolen in HasphuUe (Aspull) in the Wapentake of 
Salford, and accused him of felony, and the said William pro- 
cured Henr>' Crowe to be his warranty, who came to the next 
court, and warranted him, and said that he would procure good 
warranty at the next court On this the suitors and the bur- 
gesses of the town discharged William le Procuratur, the felon, 
and detained the aforesaid Henry Crowe in prison for three 
weeks, until the next court, when the said Hcnr>' Crowe came 
and acknowledged the robbery, and was hung by judgment in 
the absence of the Coroner. And the aforesaid William is yet 
living. The jurors were asked who was then the bailifT of the 
aforesaid court They said it was a certain Matthew le Clerk, 

• Pljiitum di tt*iwu* f//iA»; thi* vuiC was ih<r rcmc^ly t»f a pcrvin wbo»e cattle, &c, 
had Utii wron,;fuIly tm|M>unilcil, tn irop>un<lc'l tn vnnc place not »aaaiitc<l by i>rc- 
H:ri)Ki«>ii <>r tthci flight. 



36 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

who was now present. They were asked whether Master Adam 
had consented to this proceeding, or permitted it. They said 
he had not. They also said that a certain Hugh Ashegh had 
caused a certain Nicholas Wade to be attached by the said 
bailiff in the said vill, who was taken with the stolen goods in 
his possession, for a certain tabard and sword stolen in the vill 
of Preston, and had prosecuted him at the first court ; but at 
the second court no one had appeared to prosecute, nor yet at 
the third or fourth court. And so the suitors and the burgesses 
agreed to discharge the prisoner without taking any further 
steps in the matter. They also said that the same Master 
Adam takes a capital toll and emends of assize of bread and 
beer on every day of the year, as well as on the market and fair 
days. They also said that the said Master Adam is quit of suit 
to County or Wapentake, and that his predecessors have been 
so from the time of the making of the aforesaid charters, but 
not from ordinary fines and amercements because at the last 
itirneray here the men of the said Borough gave to the Wapen- 
take of Makerfeld a hundred shillings as their common fine. 

The Community of the said vill, by twelve men of that vill 
who came to answer for the vill concerning the acquittance of 
the said William Prokeratur and Nicholas Wade, had nothing to 
say about this, but as to the court and liberty of the said vill 
they said these belonged to the Parson of the Church of Wigan, 
and they were suitors there. Whereupon it was decided by that 
jury, after inspection of the charter, that King Henry, by his 
charter, had conceded sok and sak and infangenthef, &c., . to 
the burgesses of Wigan and their heirs, and not to the parson 
of the church ; and the aforesaid burgesses, who, according to 
the form of the said charter, ought to have the said liberties, 
had neither hitherto made use of them, nor claimed them ; and 
the said Master Adam and his predecessors from the time of 
the making of the said charter, by their bailiffs, had exercised 
the said liberties. Since, however, they were not conceded to 
the Parson, and the aforesaid bailiffs and suitors by the decision 



History of tJu Church and Manor of Wigan. yi 

of the court at . . . had let the said William le Procuratur and 
Nicholas Wade go free, when, by the law and custom of the 
realm for the observance of the King's peace, the truth of the 
matter ought to have been inquired into at the suit of the King, 
which could not be done by the said bailifls and burgesses 
because the principal act was done beyond their jurisdiction. 
It was decided that the Ik>rough with the liberties contained in 
the first charter should be taken into the King's hands during 
the King's pleasure, and the sheriff is ordered to account for the 
issues thereof. And as to the market and fair which he claims 
by another charter, and the taking emends of the assize of bread 
and beer on the market and fair days, the aforesaid Adam should 
retain them for the present, but because he had punished the 
transgressors of this assize, after being convicted three or four 
times, at his discretion, and not judicially, therefore he is at the 
King's mercy for this. And the suitors of the said court arc 
likewise at the King s mercy for their fault. 

The liberties claimed by the Parsons were, however, after- 
wards restored, on the application of John Byrn, guardian of the 
land and heiress of Robert Banastre, patron of the said church, 
on behalf of the said heiress, who said that the predecessors 
of the aforesaid Master Adam had died in seisin of the said 
liberties as of the right of the aforesaid church : and that the 
aforesaid Master Adam had answered by himself, of his own 
accord, without seeking the help of his patron or the ordinary 
of the place ; the value of the said court being thirty shillings a 
year. « 

Master Adam de Walton was still living and Parson of the 
Church of Wigan in 1299- 1 300, when it was shown th*it the 
course of a certain water in Standish and Hagh had been 
unjustly diverted by William de Bradeshagh, and Mabill, his 
wife, to the injury* of the said Adam in Wigan. ^ Adam dc 



• PU(. Jt qu*} waniml4f, 20 Ed. I. A*^. 2 d. 

• ExtriuU A'iJJttsfuimdr Oimeilar M ann.* 2& Edw. I. (Ab6. ICoi. Ortg. I. 113.) 



38 History of the Church ajid Manor 0/ Wigan. 

Walton was Chancellor of the church of Lichfield from 1276 to 
1292, when he was made Precentor of that Cathedral.' He 
resided partly at Lichfield, and from the following presentment 
of the Lichfield jury in the Plea Rolls of 21 Edw. L (1293) he 
was evidently regarded by the beggars of that day as a liberal 
dispenser of alms. The jury reported that a certain mendicant, 
Thomas de Sestreshire (Cheshire), together with a multitude of 
other paupers, came to the house of Master Adam de Walton 
within the close of Lichfield to receive alms, and the door of the 
said Adam's house being opened Thomas hastened to enter 
with the other paupers, and owing to the great pressure John 
le Wryere, the porter (claviger) of the said Master Adam, struck 
him with a stick on the head in order to keep him back, and the 
said Thomas fell, and, being trodden under foot by the multitude 
of other paupers, he was suffocated. The jury, together with 
the jury of the Hundred of Offlowe, being asked if the said John 
had struck Thomas feloniously, said that he had not, and that 
the blow was not the cause of his death, for he had been 
suffocated by the pressure of the crowd. 2 
Adam de Walton died in August, 1303.^ 

Robert de Clyderhou, the next parson, was instituted to 
the Church of Wigan on Sunday, the morrow of St. Matthew 
the Apostle (Sept. 22), 1303, in the Chapter of Lichfield 
Cathedral, on the presentation of Sir John de Langton.^ The 
said Sir John, who was a clerk, and afterwards became Lord 
Chancellor and Bishop of Chichester, presented in right of his 
custody of the lands and heiress of Robert Banastre, which 
Robert died before 1293. Alice Banastre, then in her minority, 
was the daughter of James Banastre (who died in his father's 
life time), and grand daughter and heiress of the said Robert 

' Le Neve's Fasti, In the cathedrals of the old foundation there is a chancellor of 
the church as well as of the diocese. 

* Pitta CoroHic^ Stafford, 21 Edw. I. m. 23. ' Le Neve*s Fasti. 

■♦ Liclifield l)ii)cc>aii AV^'/j/tr, Lib. L fol. 96. 



History of llu Church and Manor of Wigan. 39 

Banastrc, Lord of Newton. She was given in marriage to John 
dc Langton (brother of the Chancellor John de Langton, and 
son of Robert de Langton, of West Langton, in the county of 
Leicester), to whom, in 1301, the King granted a weekly market 
and two annual fairs at his manor of Newton in Makerfield. ' 

In 32 Edw. L (1303-4) a fine was levied of the manors of 
Walton-in-le-Dale, Newton, and Lauton (Lowton), and the 
advowson of the Church of Wigan, between John Langton and 
his wife and John Langton, clerk. ^ But the right of presenta- 
tion to Wigan Church at this period appears to have been dis- 
puted by William de Standish, though he was unable to substan- 
tiate his claim. The pleadings in the suit, held in Michaelmas 
term, 31 Edw. L (1303), are thus recorded in the year book of 
King Edward \? — 

Sheweth unto you William, the son of Jordan de Standish, 
by his attorney, &c., that John, the clerk de I^ngetone, &c., 
tortiously deforces him of the advowson of the chapd oi Wygan, 
and tortiously for this, that it is his right and heritage, and 
whereof one of his ancestors, named Ralph, was seized as of fee 
and of right, in time of peace, in the time of King Richard, 
cousin of our Lord the King that now is, whom God preserve, 
who in his lifetime presented his own clerk, Ulf by name, who 
on his presentation was received and instituted, &c., in the same 
time, which clerk took the esplees, such as great tithes, small 
tithes, oblations, obventions, and other kinds of issues of the 
chapel, amounting to half a mark and more, as in right of the 
aforesaid chapel ; from Ralph the right descended, and ought 
to descend, to one Richard as son and heir ; from Richard, 
because he died without heir of his body, to Alexander as 
brother and heir ; from Alexander to Ralph as son and heir ; 

* Chctham .Society Puhlicati* >n.s vol. xcix. p. 96. By this nurria^ the adTowson 
of the Church uf Wigan |uu>ol tu the Ijanf^ons. 

* LaH<u4kirt iim,i Ckrsktrt AWijrJs, vol. 8 p. 326. It was not in those days very 
unusual (or two brothers to have the same C'hri»tian name. 

> KoIU Edttioo, p. 33S. 



40 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

from Ralph to Edmund as son and heir ; from Edmund, 
because he died without heir of his body, to Hugh as brother 
and heir ; from Hugh, because he died without heir of his body, 
to Jordan as brother and heir ; from Jordan to Ralph ; and 
from Ralph to William, who now demands ; and he offers suit 
and proof EST. denied, &c., and said, Sir, whereas they 
demand against us the advowson of the chapel of Wygan, 
we say that we hold the advowson of the Church of Wygan, 
which church has the rights of sepulture and baptism ; and we 
say that there is no other chapel ; therefore if he will admit this 
we pray judgment of the writ ; or if he will say that there is 
another chapel, then we cannot be certified of that without a 
view, and we pray the view, &c., if we may have it WiLLEBY — 
There is no other chapel in the town of Wygan but this, whereof 
they ought not to have the view. And, on the other hand, 
although they call it the mother church, or by any other name, 
we now say that it was a chapel in the time of our ancestor, 
as we have counted, &c. TOUTHEBY — Sir, the writ states, — 
*' Command, &c., that he yield up the advowson of the chapel^ &c." 
Therefore we say that he cannot yield up the chapel^ &c., for we 
say that he is not tenant of a chapel, &c., but he is tenant of the 
advowson of a churchy &c., to which clerks were presented in the 
time of King Henry, and in the time of the King that now is, 
as to a church ; therefore we cannot be certified unless by the 
view whether he demands this church, or whether he means to 
say that there is another chapel. But it would be different if he 
demanded against us the advowson of a churchy and there were 
only one church in the town, for then we should not have the 
view, but in the present case the view is necessary, for otherwise 
perhaps we should lose our voucher. WiLLEBY — It was a 
chapel in the time of our ancestor, and we have offered suit and 
proof, and he answers not. Warr — Sir, John cannot yield up 
the advowson of a chapel, for we say that this is a church, &c, 
and not a chapel ; and this we will aver. WiLLEBY — As before. 
MUTFORD — From their demand, and from our plea two things 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 4 1 

may be inferred. They demand the advowson of a chapel^ &c. 
We say that we hold the advowson of a churchy &c. Wherefore 
the view is necessary. WiLLEBV — There is only a chapel in the 
town. Warr. — We cannot yield up what he demands, for we 
hold the advowson of a church, and at present we do not know if 
he demands the advowson of a chapel in that church, as we have 
seen in other cases, or if he mean to say that there is another 
chapel; and we pray the view, &c. And the Justices awarded 
the view, and he had it. 

Robert de Clyderhou was the son of Jordan and Cecilia de 
Clyderhou.' from whom he probably inherited the manor of Bay- 
ley in the county of Lancaster. Like his predecessor Maunsell 
he was a man of some importance in the affairs of State and 
entrusted with several commissions by the Crown. By writ tested 
at York on 3rd June, 1 312, he was summoned as a clerk of the 
council to the Parliament to be held at Lincoln on Sunday next 
after the feast of St. Mary Magdalen. 23rd July (6 Edw. II).* In 

7 Edw. II. he paid a fine of five marks to the King for a renewal of 
the charter granted to John Maunsell \^ and a charter of insptxi- 
tntis, tested at New Minster on 7th June of that year, 1 3 14. was ac- 
cordingly granted by the said King to his beloved clerk Robert de 
Clyderhou and his successors, parsons of the church of Wigan, 
and the burgesses of the borough aforesaid, confirming the privi- 
leges before given to John Maunsell and his successors.^ In 

8 Edw. II. Robert de Clyderhou appears as the Kings escheator, 
citra Trentam,^ as also in 9 Edw. II., in which year he seems to 
have changed places with John Walewayn and taken the escheat- 
orship ultra Trentam. In the following year they appear to have 

• WhitUker'i Wkallfy, ed. of 1876, vol. ii. p. 83. 

* ParlUroentary Writk 

> Extrart, Cr^tsomm FimiMm, 7 Edw. II., /ffi. 9 {AM. Roi. Ong. vol. i. p. J07.) 

* Wigmn Boroaj^h Charters Xavmm Affimasfmrnm, or New Mintlcr, from wheoc* 
this charter was datrtJ, wx\ «ituatcd in Northumberland. The Kinj; tetrnt to havt 
pAiaed about a fortnight there and proceeded thence, about the middle of the mooth» 
to Berwick<on*Twecd. 

• AU. Rfii, Ori^. vol. L p. 117. 

C 



42 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

again changed places. In this year, on 22nd Sept. 13 16 (10 Edw. 
II.), Robert de Clyderhou was empowered, with others, to make 
a new assessment of the fifteenth in the city of York.* On the 
following day, ix Kal. Oct. (23rd Sept.) 1316, ^s Dominus Rob, de 
CliderhoWy presbyter, he was instituted to the rectory of Gargrave, 
in the deanery of Craven, on the presentation of the Abbot and 
Convent of Sallay.^ But he did not hold it long, for his suc- 
cessor was instituted on 22nd April of the following year, 13 17. 

By writ tested at York, 8th June, 13 19, and again by writ tested 
at Westminster, 5th June, 1320, he was ordered to cause all pro- 
ceedings before him as Justice of assize, or otherwise, to be estreated 
into the Exchequer.^ In 1322, i ith July, 16 Edw. II., he entered 
into his recognizances as one of the manucaptors for Gilbert de 
Haydok, on his discharge from imprisonment* 

His tenure under the Earl of Lancaster now brought him into 
opposition to the crown. Like most of the magnates of the county 
of Lancaster, he took part with the said earl and the barons against 
the King and his unpopular favourite Piers Gaveston ; and after 
the fall of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who was taken prisoner at 
the battle of Boroughbridge, and beheaded in April, 132 1, his 
adherents were prosecuted for high treason. 

Two years later, at Michaelmas, 1323, an inquisition was held 
before the King at Wigan, when the jury presented that Robert 
de Clyderhou, parson of the Church of Wigan, who had been for 
thirty years clerk of the King's chancery and afterwards Escheator 
ciira Trentam, had sent to the assistance of the Earl of Lancaster, 
at his own expense, two men at arms with good equipments, 
namely, his son, Adam de Clyderhou, and John, son of John de 
Knolle, and with them four strong and powerful foot-soldiers, 
armed with swords, knives, and bows and arrows, and also that 
the said Robert had publicly preached in his church of Wigan 
on a certain holiday, when he told his parishioners that they were 

* Parliamentary Writs. 

» Whittaker's Hist, of Craven^ 3rd edition, ed. by A. W. Morant, p. 231. 

5 Parliamentary Writs. * Ibid, 



History of the Church and Manor of IVigan, 43 

the liege men of the said Earl, and were therefore bound to serve 
him in his enterprise against the King, swearing that his cause was 
a just one, and that of the King unjust, and promising plenary 
absolution of all their sins to every one who would go to his 
assistance ; and so he had caused many to take part against the 
King who would not otherwise have done so. The said Robert 
apfKrared in court and made answer for himself that he had on a 
certain holiday, in his preaching, asked his parishioners to pray 
for the King, the peace and good estate of the realm, and for the 
Earls and Barons of the kingdom, and that God would so order 
and dispose between them that the peace and tranquility of the 
realm might in all things be preserved. He denied that he had 
sent any men at arms or men on foot to the assistance of the said 
Earl against the King. And as to this he placed himself upon a 
jur>' of his countr>'. The jur>' elected to try him consisted of Sir 
Baldwyn dc Gynes and Sir John de Kyrkeby, knights, Gilbert 
de Scaresbrek, William de Coudray, Alan de Rikkeston, Robert 
de Saunky, William de Standissh, John de Cophull, John de 
Asshton. John Banestre del Bonk, John de Heskeyth and Adam 
Nowell, who said upon their oath that the aforesaid Robert de 
Clyderhou had sent to the said Earl the said two men at arms 
and four men on foot to the help of the same Earl against the 
King at the cost of the same Robert, and that he had preached 
in the church against the King, as had been presented. There- 
fore Robert was committed to prison. Afterwards Simon dc 
Aluetham, Adam de Clyderhou, Richard, son of Henry de 
Clyderhou, Henry de Rysshton, Roger de Aspeden, Hugh de 
Pemberton, Richard de Ins juxta Wigan, John de Boulton, 
Adam de Pemberton, John de Cruce, John son of Hugh of 
Wigan, Henry Russell of Wigan and Robert de Huyton became 
manucaptors for his appearance at the King's Bench, on the 
Monday next after the Octaves of St. Martin, under a penalty of 
1,000 marks, and also for the payment of his fine to the King. 
On which day the said Robert appeared and profTcred a fine of 



44 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

£200 to the King for his transgression, which was accepted and 
his manucaptors were discharged.* 

This sentence did not deprive him of his benefice, and in the 
next reign we find him justifying his conduct, in a petition to the 
King and his council, on the ground that he was assessed in 
Lancashire for the lands which he held there, and required to 
find, for the Earl of Lancaster, whenever he should go to war 
against the enemies of his country, a man mounted and armed. 
For doing this, and because he had caused prayers to be said in 
his church for the Earl of Lancaster and the other barons, that 
God would give them grace to maintain the crown and the peace 
of the realm against the plunderers of the land, he had been 
arraigned and sent to Nottingham whence he had been ransomed 
for 300 marks. In order to pay this he had been obliged to sell 
his land and pay 200 marks into the exchequer and 30 marks for 
the Queen's money, and Sir Robert de Leybum, late Sheriff of 
Lancashire, who is now dead, had levied 300 marks of the said 
Robert to his great loss, for 200 of which he had an acquittance 
from the said Sheriff, but they are not yet paid into the ex- 
chequer. In a second petition he complains that whereas King 
Henry, the great grandfather of the present King, had granted 
to John Maunsell, late parson of the church of Wigan, by charter, 
two annual fairs, and a weekly market every Monday, with the 
customs appertaining thereto, of which the said Robert receives 
toll on market day, and amercements of emends of the assize of 
bread and beer, the burgesses, who are his tenants, come and 
hold a market among themselves, and with strangers, every day 
of the week, in diverse goods, although they be ill-gotten or stolen, 
and take toll for such merchandize and appropriate it to them- 
selves, without any manner of charter or warrant. Also they make 
assay of bread and tasting of beer on every day of the week, 
except Monday, and take the amercements and profits thereof 
unwarrantably, by force and power, to the prejudice of the 

* J^pt. Plac. coram Rege Mich, 17 Edw. II. No. 65 (Parliamentary Writs, toI. ii. 
Div. ii. appendix, p. 240.) 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 45 

market of the said Robert and to the disinheritance of his church. 
The answer to the first of his petitions is that nothing can be 
done for his relief; and to the second that he must sue at common 
law.« 

In 3 Edw. III. (1329) Robert de Clyderhou had a confirmation 
of the charter for a market and fair at Wigan.^ 

In the following year, 4 Edw. HI. (1330), it appears from the 
return to an inquisition of ad quod damnum that it would not be 
to the King s hurt if Robert de Clyderhow, clerk, should give 
and concede to the Abbot of Cockersand the manor of Bayley, 
in the county of Lancaster, which he held of the Prior of St 
John of Jerusalem, by the rent of 3^/. for all services, and of the 
Lady Isabella as of the honor of Clidcrhow.3 The said Robert 
de Clyderhou, Rector of Wigan, had previously built a chapel in 
his manor of Hay ley, dedicated to St. John Baptist for the souls 
of the said Robert, Jordan de Clyderhou, and Cicely, his wife.^ 

In 7 Edw. III. (1333) Robert de Clyderhou, clerk, recovered his 
seisin against Adam, son of Hugh de Clyderhou, and John, son of 
Hugh de Clayton, of 36 acres of land, six acres of wood, six acres 
of meadow, and an eighth part of one mill, with the appurtenances, 
in Clyderhou and Dynkedeleye.5 In the same year the first char- 
ter for paving the town of Wigan, and erecting a bridge over the 
Douglas, was obtained.^ This brings us to the close of Robert de 
Clyderhou*s life. He died on the Saturday next after the feast 
of Pernclla (April 2), 1334. 

Ivo DE L.\NGTON, clerk, son of John de Langton, was ad- 
mitted to the Church of Wigan on xvii Kal. July (/>., 15th June), 
1334, and instituted, on the presentation of Robert, son of John 
de Langton, the patron of the church, on the death of Sir 



" Ro€, Fat I. vol. iu p. 406. 

* Baincs* Ifttt. fjatu., toL iii. p. 533, from Rei. Chart,, 3 Edw. HI., b. 14. 

• Wlutuker't lyUlUr, toI. U. p. 471* * ^^' 

« AI4. Rh, Ortg, vol. it. p. 8a. * Balntt* NitL i^m., toI iil p. $%%. 



46 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

Robert de Clyderhou.' The chantry at the Altar of our Lady 
within the parish church of Wigan was founded in his time, and 
with his assent, by Dame Mabel, widow of Sir William Brads- 
haigh, knight, the daughter and heiress of Hugh le Norreys, 
Lord of Haigh and Blackrod. It was founded on the morrow 
of St. James the Apostle, 1338. This Ivo, or John, de Langton 
(for he is called by both names) had a serious dispute with his 
brother, Robert de Langton, the patron, respecting the tithes of 
Hindley. In 17 Edw. III. (1343) Robert de Langton, knight, 
William de Wystanlegh of Werinton, Robert de Pounale, and 
John de Boudon, were attached to answer Ivo de Langton, 
Parson of the Church of Wigan, wherefore they, on the feast of 
St. Margaret the Virgin, 16 Edw. III. (13th July, 1342) had 
come and taken by force, that is to say, with swords, and bows, 
and arrows, and carried away, the tithes of hay and corn of the 
said Ivo, at Hyndeley, to the value of 40 marks. Robert 
appeared for himself and the others, and defended their action 
on the ground that the said Ivo was bound to pay him an 
annual rent of 20 marks, and ;^20 in every alternate year, and 
that the said Ivo had conceded to him the aforesaid tithes 
in lieu of the aforesaid rents, so that they were taken by his 
consent: and the jury find a verdict for Robert* It is not un- 
reasonable to suppose that this was the price which he had to 
pay to the patron for his presentation to the church. It is probable 
that the disagreement between the brothers did not end here, 
for in the same year John de Cravene is indicted for conspir- 
ing with others at Walton to procure the presentation of him- 
self to the church of Wigan, which was then filled by Ivo de 
Langton, by reason whereof he was summoned to answer in the 
Court of Christianity for the said presentation, whereby the said 
Ivo lost j^300 in divers costs, &c.3 

' Lichfield Diocesan Register, Lib. I. 
• Assize Rolls Lane, 17 Edw. II L M. 3. 434. 

3 County Pleas, 17 Edw. III., No. 17, Lancashire and Cheshire Records (Record 
Society, vol. viii. p. 362), 



History of tht Church and Manor of Wigan. 47 

Wc may conjecture, however, that Ivo was eventually obliged 
to succunnb to those who had conspired to oust him from his 
benefice, for in 1344 Roger, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 
issued his letters to William, Abbot of St. VVcrbcrgh, Chester, 
to admit 

Master JOHN DE Cravene to the Rectory of Wigan on the 
presentation of Sir Robert de Langton, Knight. « 

In 23 Edw. III. (1349) the King appears to have revived a claim 
to the right of presentation to Wigan church, which had formerly 
been made by his grandfather. King Edward I., on what grounds 
does not app>ear, but the judgment formerly given in favour of 
Robert Banastre was now reversed by reason of errors, and in 
Michaelmas Term, 1349, the King was adjudged to have his 
action against Robert de Langton. cousin and heir of the said 
Robert Banastre. ^ Cravene, in his turn, had now to give way 
to the King's nominee. On 20th February, 24 Edw. III. (1349- 
50) the King, by his letters patent, informed the bishop that he 
had established his right to the patronage against Sir Robert 
de Langton, and that the verdict was on record. He thereupon 
nominated his beloved clerk 

John de Win wick to the benefice, and commanded the 
bishop to grant institution.-^ On iv Id. (12th) March a com- 
mission was accordingly granted by Roger, bishop of Lichfield 
and Coventry, dated at Heywod, to Henry de Chaddcsden, 
to institute John de Winwick to the church of Wigan on the pre- 
sentation of the King.^ Hut the right of patronage was doubt- 
less still contested by Sir Robert de Langton, for the bishop or 
his commissioners seemingly withheld their hands for awhile, and 
during the litigation the rectory was held for John de Winwick 
by Henry de Chaddesdcn.5 On 26th April, 1350, the King 

■ Lichfield Diocesan Register. * Vide »mu, pp. 31. 52, note. 

» Lkhficld Dioc Reg. « IM, 

* Lkhfield Diocetaa Register. Vmfrmklis vir MmpsUr Hmrinu di Cksddifitm^ 
Uptm d0€Ur^ who thus held the Rectory of Wigan for a few months, was, like his fhcnd. 



48 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

re-issued his letters patent for the institution of John de Winwick, 
dated from Windsor, but he does not appear to have been 
actually admitted until the 5th November of that year.' 

John de Winwick was chaplain to King Edward III., warden 
of the chapel of Clitheroe Castle, and Treasurer of York Minster, 
to which last office he had been appointed by the King's patent, 
dated 29th July, 1349. He had previously been appointed by the 
King's patent, in 1343, to a prebendal stall at York, and in 1347 
to a prebendal stall at Lincoln, which he afterwards exchanged 
with Henry de Blackborne for the Mastership of St. Thomas' 
Hospital at Marlborough.* 

On 27th November, 1342, he occurs as deputy constable of 
the Tower of London ;3 and 20th June, 1345, he had letters of 
protection to go abroad with the King.^ 

In the year of his appointment to the rectory of Wigan he 

obtained from the King a full confirmation of the charters granted 
to John Maunsell and Robert de Clyderhou, with the following 

John de Winwick, a great pluralist. He was Archdeacon of Stow from 1339 to 1346, 
when he became Archdeacon of Leicester, to which office he was admitted 14th March, 
1346-7. He also held prebends in Lincoln, St. Paul's (London), and Lichiield Cathe- 
drals, to which last he was collated loth August, 1350 (Le Neve's Fasti). Canon 
Raines, in his Lancashire Chantries (Chetham Tract lix, p. 94,) speaks of him as 
having been Archdeacon of Lincoln and Leicester, but in this he is incorrect. Mr. 
Henry de Chaddesden died 8th May, 1354, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
London (Le Neve's Fasti), He founded a chantry in the chapel of Chaddesden, in 
the diocese of Lichfield, on iii. Id. Sept., 1347, in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, 
the chaplain to pray for the souls of the said Master Henry de Chaddesden, of Richard 
and Agnes, his father and mother ; and for the souls of all his ancestors ; for the souls 
of Nicholas de Chaddesden, Archdeacon of Lincoln, and Prebendary of Lichfield and 
Lincoln, his uncle ; of Cecilia his sister ; of Geoffrey de Chaddesden, his brother ; of 
William de Horsham, late Abbot of Dale ; of Sir Henry de Lande, Chaplain ; and for 
the souls of his relatives, parishoners, friends, and benefactors, living or dead (Raines' 
Lancashire Chantries^ Chetham Tract lix, p. 94, note). 

* Lichfield Diocesan Register. 

■ Le Neve's Fasti. Le Neve, or his editor (Fasti, vol. ii. p. 1 16) says that he also 
held stalls at Lichfield, Salisbury, Wells and Chichester, but no authority is cited, and 
John de Winwick's name does not occur in the list of prebendaries at any one of these 
Cathedrals. 

5 Rymer's Fadera, vol. ii. p. 1,215. * /^V/., vol. iii. p. 4S. 



History of the Church and Afanor of Wigan. 49 

special addition thereto: "Moreover because of the special affec- 
tion which we bear to the aforesaid John (de Wynewyk) on 
account of the diligent service he has rendered to us for a long 
time past, being willing to do him the more abundant favour on 
this behalf, we have granted, for us and our heirs, that although 
the same John or his predecessors, parsons of the said church 
and lords of the borough, or the aforesaid burgesses, or their ante- 
cessors or predecessors, hitherto have not used the liberties and 
quittances contained in the said charter, or any of them, or the 
same borough and the liberties aforesaid, or any of them, may 
have been, as it were, forfeited, or, because of abuse or non-claim 
or in any other manner, have been taken into our hands or the 
hands of any of our progenitors by the justices last itinerant in 
the county of Lancaster, or any other justices whomsoever of us 
or our progenitors in whatsoever time past ; nevertheless the same 
John and his successors, parsons of the said church and lords of 
the borough aforesaid, may have that borough with all the 
liberties to a free borough belonging ; and also all and singular 
liberties and quittances in the said charter contained and speci- 
fied, for themselves and their burgesses of that borough for ever, 
and for the future may fully enjoy and use them ; and also for 
ever may have all other liberties and free customs which the same 
John or his predecessors aforesaid for themselves and their bur- 
gesses aforesaid have reasonably used and enjoyed in times past 
in the borough and elsewhere, without let or hindrance of us or 
our heirs, our justices, executors, sheriffs, bailiffs, or officials, or 
others whomsoever. We have also granted, for us and our heirs, 
and by this our charter have confirmed, to the aforesaid John that 
he and his successors, parsons of that church and lords of the 
borough aforesaid, for ever, may have a view of Frankpledge' of 
all their men and tenants in the said borough, and the liberty 

' The view of Frankp)e<lgv wat the ofice which a •heriiT or the baihiT cA a Hundred 
exercifcd id their renpective courts ; hence the cof^niiance of rach pleas as otdmarily 
came before the i^eater or lesser Hundred Courts, /./., wayi^ bloodshed, hoc and ay, 
and aasiic of bread and beer. 

H 



50 History of the Church and Manor of Wtgan. 

thereof, and of others resident therein, with all things belonging 
or appertaining to a view of this kind : and that the same men, 
tenants and residents, may be acquitted for ever from the sheriff's 
tourns, and that they may not be bound to come to the same 
tourns for the future nor be in any wise compelled thereto ; and 
that the said John and his successors aforesaid may for ever have 
cognizance of all pleas by their bailiffs there, as well concerning 
lands, tenements, and rents, existing within the said borough and 
the liberty thereof, as concerning transgressions, covenants, con- 
tracts, and complaints, within the said borough arising or made ; 
and also of pleas of assizes concerning tenures within the said 
borough and the liberty thereof, which shall happen to be arraigned 
before us and our heirs, and before the justices of us and our 
heirs assigned to hold the assizes in the county of Lancaster; and 
also of pleas de vetito naifiio and other pleas whatsoever there 
arising ; and that our justices and others whomsoever, before 
whom pleas of this sort shall be brought, or assizes of this sort 
shall happen to be arraigned, when the cognizance of those pleas 
and assizes shall be required on behalf of the aforesaid John, or 
his successors aforesaid, shall transfer them to them without diffi- 
culty, and shall cause the original writs and processes, if any 
therein shall have been had, to be delivered to them or their bailiffs 
aforesaid ; and that no burgess of the said borough, or other 
resident in the same, shall be called upon to plead, or be im- 
pleaded, before us or our heirs, or any justices, sheriffs, or 
officials, of us or our heirs, out of the borough aforesaid, con- 
cerning land and tenements which are in that borough, nor con- 
cerning trangressions, covenants, contracts, or complaints, arising 
in the same borough, or concerning any matters arising therein, 
but all pleas and complaints of this sort which shall happen to 
be summoned or attached out of, or within, the said borough to 
be pleaded before us, or our heirs, or our justices of the Bench, 
or other our justices or officials (ministris) whatsoever, whether in 
the county or elsewhere, shall be pleaded and summoned within 
the said borough before the bailiffs of the Parson of the said 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 5 1 

Church, for the time being, and no others ; and that the same 
baih'fls shall be able, within the borou*jh aforesaid and the liberty 
thereof, to levy the fines and amercements, made and adjudged 
there before them, to the aforesaid John, and his successors 
aforesaid ; and also to make execution of all things recovered or 
recognized before them, and of the damages before them adjudged, 
within the said borough and \\hcx\y (dc omnibus coram eis rciupcr- 
Otis sive rcco^i^nitis et de dampnis coram eis adjudicatis cxecntiones 
faccre possint infra pritdictum buri^nm ct libcrtaWm) \\\x\\o\ii the 
let or hindrance of anyone whomsoever. And the burgesses of that 
borough shall not be convicted by persons outside the borough 
(forinsccos), but only by their fellow burgesses, concerning pleas 
arising within the aforesaid borough, or concerning any things 
there done or per[K»traled, unless those pleas shall affect us or 
our heirs, or the parson of the said church, or the community 
of the borough aforesaid. Moreover, for the better and more 
speedy restraint of the malice of any evil doers that may commit 
offences within the said borough or the liberty thereof, we have 
granted, for us and our heirs, and by this our charter have con- 
firmed, to the aforesaid John, and his successors aforesaid, that 
they, by their stewards or bailiffs, and others by them to this to 
be deputed, may have jx^wers of inquiring, as often as need shall 
be, concerning all excesses, oppressions, extortions, cons[)iracies, 
confederacies, and other transgressions and grievances whatsoever 
within the same borough and liberty perpetrated and arising, by 
virtue of their office, and to hear and determine the same, as well 
at the suit of the party as otherwise, and therein to make 
executions according to the law and customs of our kingdom ; 
and when it shall happen that any |>ersons outside the borough, in 
cases of this sort, are imjK'ached or indicted by presentments^ 
indictments, or inquisitions, before the sheriffs, justices, or other 
officials whomsoever, of us or our heirs, concerning malefactions 
of this sort perpetrated within the said borough or liberty, that they 
may, without any sort of difficulty immediately after such male- 
factors of this sort shall have been taken out of the said borough 



5 2 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

by the officials of us or our heirs, deliver the presentments, 
indictments, and inquisitions of this sort, together with the male- 
factors so taken, to the officials of the said John and his suc- 
cessors, whensoever the officials of us and our heirs shall be 
thereunto required by the bailiffs of the same John and his 
successors, to be heard and determined in the court of the said 
John and his successors aforesaid within the borough aforesaid, 
so that the sheriffs, justices, or other officials of us or our 
heirs may not interfere with anything arising within the said 
borough or liberty thereof, except in the case of felonies; but 
that the said John and his successors, parsons of the church 
aforesaid, may have the cognizance of all and singular the above 
said as fully as we ourselves ought to have, together with the 
issues, forfeitures, amercements, fines, and redemptions in cases 
of this sort arising for ever. Moreover, we do will and grant for 
us and our heirs that the same John and his successors, parsons 
of the church aforesaid, by their officials aforesaid, may have 
the power of inquiring as often as need shall be concerning what- 
soever felonies are perpetrated within the borough and liberty 
aforesaid ; and of taking, and arresting, and confining there in 
the prison of the parson aforesaid, felons of this sort, to remain 
in the same prison until the first delivery of the gaol of us and 
our heirs at Lancaster, so that the indictment so made upon the 
felons aforesaid, together with the bodies of the same felons, 
may then be sent before the Justices of us and our heirs assigned 
to deliver the gaol aforesaid, and that before them justice may be 
done therein according to the law and custom of our kingdom. 
And, nevertheless, that the aforesaid burgesses may be able more 
freely and quietly to proceed in their merchandizes, we have 
granted for us and our heirs that the same burgesses, and their 
heirs and successors resident within the said borough and liberty, 
may for ever have this liberty, namely, that they or any of them 
may not be put on any assizes, juries, recognitions, or inquisitions 
whatsoever, to be taken out of the said borough, whether the 
juries and inquisitions of this sort shall be taken at the suit of 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 53 

us or our heirs, or others, or otherwise ex officio. And, moreover, 
whereas there has been a frequent concourse at the said borough, 
as well of merchants and others, for the sake of trading and 
otherwise, we have granted for us and our heirs to the said John, 
that he and his successors, parsons of the church aforesaid, and 
lords of the borough aforesaid, may for ever within the said 
borough have a certain seal, by us to be ordained, of two pieces, 
as is of custom to be used, for recognizances of debts there, 
according to the form of the statutes published for merchants, 
and that the greater part of the seal aforesaid may remain in the 
custody of the Mayor or Keeper of the borough aforesaid for the 
time being, or other private person of the greater and more 
discreet men of the said borough to be chosen for this purpose 
with the assent of the aforesaid John and his successors afore- 
said if there shall not be a Mayor or Keeper there, and that the 
lesser piece of the said seal may remain in the custody of a 
certain clerk to be deputed by us there for this purpose, accord- 
ing to the form of the statutes aforesaid, and that the said 
Mayor, or Keeper, or other person who shall have the custody of 
the greater piece of the seal aforesaid, and the clerk, may 
for the future receive recognizances of debts there, according to 

the form of the same statutes ; and that to execution, 

circumstances so requiring as heretofore in the like cases 

respecting recognizances have been usually done by other Mayors, 
or the like Keepers, and Clerks, elsewhere within our kingdom 
of England ; to which are witnesses the venerable Fathers, J. 
Wygom, bishop, our chancellor, W. Wynton, bishop, our trea- 
surer, Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of 
[Chester], our most dear son, Henr>', Earl of Lancaster, Richard, 
Earl of Arundel, and William, Earl of Huntingdon, John de Gu 
. . . . Steward of our household, and others ; given by our hand 
at Westminster the 4th day of August, in the 24th year of our 
reign over England, and in the nth year of our reign over 
France." « 
On 38th June, 13s it John de Winwik, clerk, was one of the 

' Wigan Borough Cbaiten. 



54 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

commissioners ordered to meet at Newcastle-on-Tyne to treat 
for peace with Scotland.' In July, 1352, the Dean and Chapter 
of York sent him to the King to announce the death of Arch- 
bishop Zouche, and to obtain his license to elect the Archbishop's 
successor. 2 In the next year we find him successfully claiming 
his privilege of holding assizes of his tenants in his own courts. 
An assize came together at Preston, before the Superior Court 
of the Duke of Lancaster, to try whether Hugh Aleghan of 
Hyndelegh, and John, his brother, had unjustly disseised Robert, 
son of Richard de Ines, of his free tenement in Wigan, namely, of 
two messuages and six acres of land, with the appurtenances, and 
the said Hugh and John appeared to defend themselves, but 
the bailiffs of the liberty of the Parson of Wigan appeared and 
demanded to hear and determine the suit in the Parson's own 
Court, and the claim was accordingly allowed.^ On 2nd April, 
I357> ^"<i again on 30th January, 1358, being then Treasurer of 
York, John deWinwick was sent to parliament as one of the repre- 
sentatives of the Chapter.^ In the same year we find him lodging 
a complaint in the Duchy Court against certain malefactors for 
resisting his bailiffs in the performance of their duties within his 
manor of Wigan ; and the Duke issued his mandate to the 
Sheriff to investigate the charges. 5 It would seem that John de 
Winwick resigned the Rectory of Wigan in July of the following 
year, for his successor was presented on the loth July, 1359. 
Before his resignation he had procured from the Crown and 
Duchy the restoration of the patronage of Wigan church to the 
Langtons. By letters of the Privy Seal, issued on behalf of Sir 
Robert de Langton, knight, and John de Winwick, parson of 
the church of Wigan, bearing date on i8th May of that year, it 
appears that the King having granted to Sir Robert de Langton, 
knight, and his heirs, the advowson of the church of Wigan, 

* Rymer*s Fad.^ vol. iii. p. 225. 

* Lancashire Chantries^ by Rev. F. R. Raines, vol. i. p. 94 (Chetham Tract lix), 
s Assize Rol 5, Lane, 27 Edw. III., M. 3, 4, }5« 

* Lancashire Chantries^ by Rev. F. R. Raines, vol. i. p. 94. 
5 Baines' Hist, Lanc.y vol. I p. 347. 



History of the Church and Matwr of Wigan, 55 

the Duke of Lancaster, at the request of John dc Winwick, 
clerk, ratifies the King s grant, and releases all right and claim 
to the advowson of the same church.* 

It appears from the Chancery Rolls of the Duchy of Lan- 
caster of 1359 that whereas the King had granted to John 
dc Winwick, parson of the church of VVigan, the wardship of 
the lands and the marriage of William, son of William, son of 
Richard de Molineux of Sefton, but the right to the wardship 
was in dispute between the King and Richard, son of William 
de Molineux of Sefton, an agreement was enrolled in that 
year between John de Winwick and the said Richard, son of 
William, to the effect that if the decision should be in favour 
of Richard de Molineux he should grant to John de Winwick, 
parson of the church of Wigan, the said wardship and marriage 
for 100 marks, the said Richard pledging himself by a bond of a 
rent charge oi £\qo upon his manors of Sefton, Thorneton, and 
Dounlytherland, not to alienate any of his possessions so that the 
whole inheritance of which he was then seized should freely 
descend to the said William, son of William, as his heir appar- 
ent. And it was agreed on the part of John de Winwick, as to the 
payment of the 100 marks, that C20 thereof should be paid when 
the deeds were completed and acknowledged before Sir Henry dc 
Haydok, the Duke's Chancellor, and 10 marks in the following 
August, and also that ^^40 should be paid to John de Mascy, 
parson of the church of Sefton, and William de Stanley, to the 
use of Joane, daughter of the said Richard de Molineux, in aid 
of her marriage; dated at Walton, near Derby. 33 Kdw. IIl.^ 

This was followed by an enrolment of the bond of Richard de 
Molineux for John de Winwick, parson of Wigan. and his brother 
Master Richard de Winwick, parson of the church of Walton.^ 

In the month of October, 1359, John de Winwick being then 
keeper of the King's privy seal, had the great seal committed to 

' Chamery R^lt of the Ihirhy of I^ncastcr ; apficndix to jimi Report of Deputy 
Keeper of Puldtc Records p. 332. 
* Chatufry R«4it of the Ihichjr of Ijtnca«ter ; •ppciulix to 33111! Report, p. 346. 



56 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

his custody,' but he died within a few months of this time, for on 
nth January, 1360, his executors were summoned before the 
Chapter of York to make reparation for the loss of the great bell 
belonging to the Minster, which had fallen down and was broken 
through the neglect of de Win wick and his officers. ^ 

He founded a chantry, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, 
in the church of Huyton, in the county of Lancaster,^ of which 
the patronage, after his death, was exercised by his nephew, 
Richard de Winwick. 

On vi Id. (lOth) of July, 1359, RICHARD DE LaNGTON, 
clerk, was presented to the parish church of Wigan, then 
vacant, by Sir Robert Langton, knight, the true patron, and 
Stephen de Chetaston, Rector of Warrington, was appointed a 
special commissary for his institution, which took place in the 
chapel of the said Sir Robert, at Newton, in his presence, and 
he, the said Richard, made oath that he would pay an annual 
pension of ;^20 due to the cathedral of Lichfield by equal por- 
tions at Michaelmas and Easter. ^ Richard de Langton was a 
younger son of Sir Robert de Langton, knight, and is named 
in an entail of W. fil. H. de Orel, in 1340.S His incumbency 
was of short duration, for on the 4th of September, 1359, 

Robert de Lostock, Presbyter, was instituted to the same 
church, vacant by the resignation of Richard de Langton, the 
late Rector, on the presentation of Sir Robert de Langton, 
patron. 6 

On iv Non. (2nd) of January, 1361-2, Sir Robert Lostock 
resigned the Rectory to the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 
and on the same day 

Sir Walter de Campeden was instituted on the presentation 
of John, Earl of Lancaster, patron for this turn by reason of the 

* Kym, Fird.f vol. iii. p. 452. • Lancashire CAantrus, p. 93. 

3 /die/., p. 95. * Lichfield Dice, Reg. Lib. iv. fol. 6. 

5 Hill's History of Langton , p. 19. • Lichfield I>ioc. Reg, Lib.vf, foL 6. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 57 

minority of Ralph de Langton, kinsman and heir of Robert de 
Langton. The Rector binds himself to pay ;f 20 a year to the 
cathedral church of Lichfield. « 

On the loth of February, 1366, Campeden obtained a licence 
from the bishop to absent himself from the church of Wigan 
for •* as long as his lord pleased." a He died in 137a 

James de Langton. ''habens tonsuram clericaltm'" was 
presented to the church of Wigan by Ralph de Langton, patron, 
on the death of Walter de Campeden, late Rector, and he swore, 
after institution, to pay a pension of £20 ^ year due to the 
cathedral. He was instituted at Hcywode on ix Kal. (24th) 
of August, 1370. 

In August, 1373, the bishop granted a licence of non- 
residence to Mr. James dc Langton, Rector of Wigan, for one 
ycar,^ and on nth September, 1374, the licence was renewed 
for another year on the payment of 5 marks ^ 

In 2 Ric. II. James dc langton, parson of the Church of 
Wigan. had a charter of inspcximus of the charters which had 
been made to John Maunsell, Robert de Clyderhou, and John 
de Winwick, dated at Gloucester on 2nd November, 1378; 
which was again inspected, approved, and confirmed by King 
Henry IV. in the first year of his reign by charter dated at 
Westminster on loth May, 1400. In 1394 he occurs as one of 
the Trustees enfeoffed by Richard Molineux in his manor of 
Sefton, and all his other estates.^ 

' Lichfietd Dioc, Rt^, Lib. iv. fol. 8a Ralph de [juigton, the patron, wmt the 
•on of John, and ^andton and heir of Sir Robert de Lan^^on. He mtut have been 
JO yean of age and more at this time, for he wa« 45 in 1 586 {vuU Strvft and 
Crpn^mtfr AW/), and he is rcp(>rte<i as being 21 year> of age and more at tkt pgr^rs 
utuUrst^iki at the inquisition taken after the death of his grandfilher, Robert de 
Langton, at Newton, on the Sanday next liefore the feast (}f the Purtficatioo of St. 
Mary the Virgin, 36 VaXw. III. {yxh January, 1563 ; »ee Hill's Htst. pf the Parish tf 
Lan^<*n^ p. 23). This however, would not have entitled him to present unless be 
had proved hi> age by inquisitioiL * Lich6eld Dux. Reg, l.th, v. fiol. I a- 16. 

> Lichticld DuK. AV/. Ub, v. fol. 85b. « IhU.. foL 30a. 

< Inf. P^t Mart., 31 Ric II., Lam. Im^misUmu^ Chetham Tract icv, p. ya 

I 



58 . History of the Church and Manor of JVtg'an^ 

In 4 Hen. IV. when John de Brodeheved, of Wigan, and 
Emma his wife sued Thomas de Gretherton of Wigan, draper, 
and Alice his wife for the third part of one messuage and acre of 
land, with the appurtenances, in Wigan, as the dower of the said 
Alice, which she had of the dowry of Robert Wade of Wigan, 
formerly her husband, before the King's Justices of Assise, James 
de Langton appeared, by his attorney, who produced the letters 
patent of King Edward III. to John de Winwick, together with 
the confirmation thereof by the present King, and claimed his 
right to have cognizance of that plea. The said attorney also 
stated that, in the King's Court at Lancaster, on the Monday 
of the 4th week of Lent, he had produced a close writ from 
the King to his justices at Lancaster, enjoining them to permit 
the said James de Langton to use and enjoy the liberties 
contained in the beforementioned charters, bearing date at 
Lancaster on 6th March, 2 Hen. IV. (1401).' 

James de Langton, the present Rector, was probably a brother of 
Ralph de Langton, the Lord of Newton, and patron of the church, 
though he is not mentioned in the pedigree. He occurs in 1406 
as a trustee of the family estates.^ He obtained another charter 

« P/ea jRoi/Sf Lane, 2 Hen. IV. 

■ Chancery RoUs^ Lane, 7 Hen. IV., No. 37, being a precept dated i6th June, 
1406, to the escheator to give to Henry de Langton, son and heir of Ralph, son of John, 
sou of Robert, son of John de Langton and Alice hb wife, and Agnes his wife, 
livery of his lands, taking security of him for payment of their relief. It was found by 
inquisition that John de Langton, clerk, by fine levied in 32 Edw. I. gave the manors 
of Walton in le Dale, Newton, and Langton, with the appurtenances, and the advow- 
son of the church of Wigan, to John, son of Robert de Langton, and his wife Alice, 
and the heirs of the body of the said Alice by the said John begotten, with remainder 
to the right heirs of the said Alice, and after the deaths of the said John and Alice the 
premises descended to Robert, their son and heir, and after his death to John, son 

and heir of the said Robert, which said John gave to one Lawrence M 

chaplain, and his heirs and assigns for ever, 16 messuages, 200 acres of land, 40 acres 
of meadow, 12 acres of wood, 40 acres of moor, and 200 acres of pasture, parcel of the 
said manor of Walton, who gave the same to Ralph de Langton and Joan his wife 
and the heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten, with remainder to the right heirs of 
the said Ralph, which said Ralph was the son and heir of the aforesaid John, son of 
Robert, son of John, and to whom the said manors and advowson descended after his 



History oj the Church and Manor of Wigan, 59 

of inspcximus from the new King Henry V. in the first year of 
his reign. On ist May» 3 Hen. V. (1415) by inquisition taken 
after the death of Richard de Pembcrton, it was found that the 
said Richard died seised in his demesne as of fee of three mes- 
suages in the vill of Wigan» of the clear annual value of 20J.. which 
formerly belonged to Richard Atkinson, and which were held of 
James de Langton, parson of the church of Wigan, in socage ; 
also of one messuage in the same vill, situate between the mes- 
suage of Adam de Berkhed and William de Orrcll, and one 
messuage in the same vill situate between the land of the parson 
of the said church of Wigan and that of Matthew Russell, and 
one burgage which lately belonged to John de Kirton in the 
same vill, which same messuages and burgage were held of the 
said parson, lord of Wigan, by what service the jurors are 
ignorant, and they are of the clear annual value of 2ar. ; also of 
one toft adjacent to Bickerstath-acre in the same vill, and 

Cither*! death, and the muI Ralph g.ive ami granted to his ton Henry and Agnes his 
wife 15 messuages, l6o acre% of land, 20 acres of meadow, 10 acres uf wood, 20 acres 
of moor, an<l 100 acres of pasture, parcel of ihe said manor of Walton, to hold to the 
said Henry and Agnes, and the heirs of their botlies issuing, with remainder to the 
right heirs of the «id Ralph, and the same Ralph gare to James tU Langton^ parson 
0f the thttffk of W'tgan^ John de Tilkington, (larson of the church of Bury, and 
Richard de Cliptson, parvm of the church of Radclif, and their heirs and assigns for 
ever, the manors and adrowson aforesaid (except the premises before granted as above 
to the said Lawrence and Henry and Agnes), who aAerwards release«l all their right 
therein to the aforesaid Ralph and his heiri and assigns for erer, and the said Ralph 
of such estate dicil tiezeil (the writ of Dum clausit extremum Usued after his death 
was dated 16 April, 1406): the manors of Newton and i^ngti>n, together with the 
manors of Kenyan, Erhury, and the moiety of the manor of C«oldbom, which are 
f>arcel of the manor of Newton, and the advowson aforesaid, are holden of the King 
in <apiU %!k of the Honor of Lancaster, by service of los. and suit at the wapentake 
of West Derby every three weeks; and the manors of Soihe worth, Wigan, Ines near 
Wigan, Hyndley, Adburgham, As&heton, Pemberton, Billynge, Wynstanley, Haydok« 
Orrell, Winquik-cum-Hulme, Wolfton, INilton. Midelton, and Hoghton, with the other 
moiety of the town of Goldbum, which are parcel of the aforesaid laanor of Newtoo, 
are holden as of the Ihichy of Lancaster by fealty only, and the said manor of Walton 
is entirely holden of the King as Earl of Lincoln ; the aforesaid Henry de Langtoo 
is son and heir of the said Ralph de Langtoo and Joan his wife. (Appendix to 
the 33rd Report of the Deputy Keeper of Records, p. 6.) 



6o History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

three acres of meadow in the same vill, which were held of the 
said parson of Wigan by socage, and are of the clear annual 
value of \2s. He died seised also of other lands in Pemberton, 
which were held of Henry de Pemberton in socage, and also of 
certain lands in Pinington. Hugh de Pemberton, son of Thomas, 
son of the aforesaid Richard, was his heir. ' 

James de Langton died intestate in this same year (141 5); 
indeed, he must have been dead before the above inquisition 
was taken, for Henry, Hugh, and William de Langton give a fine 
to administer his goods and chattels, which fine is recorded 
among those of 2 Hen. V.,^ and must, therefore, have been 
made before the 20th of March, 141 5, which closes the second 
year of his reign. 

He was succeeded by a certain William de Langton, who 
occurs as parson of Wigan in 141 5, and who paid a fine to the King 
for a writ on 8th March, 1417.^ William de Langton was pro- 
bably an illegitimate member of the family, for in 1398 William 
Langton, a secular, was admitted to consecration at Lichfield, 
notwithstanding defect of birth.^ 

On Easter Monday 8 Hen. V. (24th March, 1420) there was 
an enrolment of a Charter of Ralph de Langton, Esq., by 
which he grants to Thomas, Lord Bishop of Durham, William 
de Langton, parson of the church of Wigan, Henry de Kyghley, 
Esq., and James de Langton, brother of the said Ralph, the 
manors of Newton in Makerfield, and Walton-in-le-Dale, and all 
his other lands, tenements, &c., within the county of Lancaster, 

' Towneley abstracts of Lancashire Inquisitions^ Chetham Tract xcv, p. 103. 

■ Chancery Rolls, Lane., 2 Hen. V. No. 15 (appendix to 33rd Report, p. 12). 
Henry de Langton, the first named of the administrators, will probably have been 
the intestate's nephew, the Lord of Newton, and William de Langton was probably 
his successor at Wigan. 

3 Chancery Rolls, Lane, 4 Hen. V. (same appendix, p. 13). No entries of institu- 
tions to the Rectory of Wigan occur in the Lichfield Diocesan Register after 1370, 
when James de Langton was admitted, until the year 1457. 

* Hiirs Hist, of Langton, p. 20. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 6 1 

together with the advowson of the church of Wigan, to hold to 
them and their heirs and assigns for ever of the Chief Lords of 
the fce« 

In 1423 it was found by inquisition that Matilda, widow 
of Sir John Lovell, knight, died seized (inter alia) of the 
manor of Upholland, in the county of Lancaster, which she held 
of the King in capiu as of the Duchy of Lancaster ; also of 
the manor of Orrell, holdcn of Sir Ralph de Langton, knight, 
in socage ; and also of a burgage, with appurtenances in Wigan, 
holden of William Langton, parson of the church of Wigan.> 
In like manner, in December, 1428, Alice, widow of John le 
Mascy, was found to have died seized of 8 burgages, 23 acres of 
land, and 3 acres of meadow, with appurtenances in Wigan, of 
the inheritance of the said John le Mascy, which she held of 
William, parson of the church of Wigan. ^ 

About this time the Standishcs appear to have revived an old 
claim which their ancestor, William de Standish, had made in 
the time of King Kdward I. to the advowson of the church of 
Wigan. It was probably with the view of avoiding costly litiga- 
tion that the question was referred to Alice, wife of John Gerard 
of Bryn, for her decision in the matter.^ The following deeds 
concerning this dispute are preserved among the Standish 
evidences : 5 

I. A bond of 1,000 marks from Henry de Langton and Ralph 
de Langton, Elsquircs, and Sir Thomas Gerard of Bryn, knight, 
and William de Langton, parson of the church of Wigan, for 
performance of covenants with Ralph de Standish and Law- 
rence de Standish, his son, Esquires, and Alexander Standish, 



■ Chamtry Kollt^ Lane, 7 Hen. V. (fit trrfy) Na 11 (tame appendix, p. 23). 

* Ckamery Rolls^ Lane, I Hen. VI. No. 8 (appendix to 33rd Report, p. 14). 

> Ihui,, 6 lien. VI. No. 50 (same appendix, p. 29). 

^ According to the Gerani |ie<ligree Alice, wife of John Gerard of Bryn, waa the 
daughter of John Botcler. 

' Orig. documents of the familf of Standitb of Standish, contriboted by F. Pcakc, 
Esq., to Lo€ml dmrnrngi §f LMtuatktrt amd Cktikirt, vol la. ppw 60^ 61. 



62 History of tJie Church and Manor of Wigan. 

parson of the church of Standish, concerning the advowson of 
the church of Wigan, dated 2 Hen. V. (1414-15). 

2. Bond in ;£" 1,000 between Sir Ralph Langton and Lawrence 
de Standish, Esquire, in reference to the disputed title to the 
advowson of Wigan church. Sealed with the ancient arms of 
Wigan, a church between two tall trees, on the reverse a crowned 
head, in base a lion couchant between two turrets crenellated, 
dated 7 Hen. VI. (1428-9). 

3. An indenture tripartite made Sth Jan. 8 Hen. VI. (1430), 
reciting a statute merchant from Sir Ralph Langton, knight, to 
Lawrence de Standish, of ;£" 1,000, and another from the said 
Lawrence to the said Sir Ralph, both to be delivered to Alice, 
wife of John Gerard of Bryn, the arbitrator chosen by both 
parties in the affair of the advowson of the church of Wigan, by 
which they mutually bind themselves to abide by the award of 
the said Alice. 

4. Award of Alice, the wife of John Gerard of Bryn, in the 
matter in dispute with regard to the church of Wigan, between 
Sir Ralph Langton, knight, and Lawrence de Standish, Esquire. 

After having heard all that was alleged and denied on either 
side, and having consulted with her counsel learned in the law, 
both spiritual and temporal, and having considered the claims 
made by Sir Ralph Langton, knight, on the one side, and those 
of Lawrence de Standish, Esquire, with Alexander, his son and 
heir apparent, on the other side, she makes her award as follows : 

" It appears evident from the concurring testimonies of great antiquity 
that the ancestors of Sir Ralph Langton have enjoyed the advowson from 
time immemorial, and also the presentation to the said church of Wigan ; 
and that it is a parish church and not a chapel ; and there was no proof 
shown that the said Lawrence de Standish had any right or title to the 
advowson or to any part thereof. Therefore it is awarded, deemed and 
ordained that the said Lawrence de Standish should take out a writ of 
right to the advowson of the said church against Thomas the bishop of 
Lichfield and Coventry, Sir Ralph Langton, Henry Brightley, and 
William Langton, parson of the church of Wigan, and James Langton, 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 63 

retumal^Ic before the Justices at I^ncaster at the sessions next to be 
held there or elsewhere within the county of Lancaster, to show his title 
and have his champion ready. And that the above-named Thomas, 
Ralph, Henry, William and James, should appear in person or by their 
sufficient attomies ; and that the said I^wrence de Standish should then 
declare his right upon the same writ to the said advowson or any part 
thereof, and cease all debate and heaviness upon any pretence. And I, 
the said Alice, ordain and award that the said Sir Ralph Langton and 
Alice his wife shall release by fine to the said bishop, Henry, William 
and James, at the cost of the said Lawrence de Standish, all the lands, 
tenements, &c., in dispute in the town of Wigan. &c. And the said 
Ralph shall let or make James I^angton, his brother, and (leorge, brother 
of James, l>etwixt this and the feast of . . . next ensuing, release 
to the said bishop, William, and Henry, all their rights, &c., in the said 
lands. And that within six months after, the said bishop, &c, shall en- 
feoff William, RolKTt, and James de Standish, William the son of John 
Gerard, James de Heton, John de Chesenhall, Dakin de Standish, John 
and Thurstan de Standish, Richard de Molyneux, &c, upon condition 
that they shall enfeoff by deed the said Sir Ralph de I^ngton and his heirs 
for ever in the same lands and tenements, &c. And within a quarter of 
a year after the said Sir Ralph is so enfeoffc*d in the said lands, &c, he 
shall grant by his deed indented to the said Lawrence de Standish and 
his heirs an annual rent charge of forty shillings, to be taken out of the 
rents and profits of the said lands, payable by William de langton, 
parson of the church of Wigan, at the terms of Nf ichaelmas and Christ- 
mas. And that in the said deed a clause or covenant shall be inserted, 
that if the said Lawrence de Standish, his heirs or assigns, shall make 
any claim to any right or title in the said advowson or any fxart thereof 
in any court of Record, spiritual or tem|)oral, or at any time present any 
clerk to the said church, or disturb the said Sir Ralph or his heirs in the 
presentation of any clerk to the said church, or shall disturb any clerk 
presented by the said Sir Ralph, his heirs or assigns, to be instituted or 
inductetl in the said church, that then the said rent to cease and be 
determined for ever. With another clause or covenant in the said inden- 
ture that the said Sir Ralph may have fower to enfeoff the said Lawrence 
de Standish in other lands in the county of Lancaster to the value of the 
above sum of forty shillings ptr annum in place of the said lands, &c.. 



64 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

in Wigan ; and that then the said lands, &c., in Wigan shall be free from 
the said annual rent-charge. And that after the deed of rent-charge is 
made and delivered to the said Lawrence de Standish by the said Sir 
Ralph de Langton, within 40 days ensuing the date thereof the said Sir 
Ralph shall enfeoff Edmund Crawford, &c., &c, his heirs and assigns, 
by deed indented, in the lands and tenements of Newton and Langton, 
upon condition that the said Edmund, &c., shall enfeoff the said Sir 
Ralph and his heirs for ever in the same lands, &c., within six months 
of the said enfeoffment made by the said Sir Ralph to the said Edmund, 
&c., and the said Sir Ralph shall deliver one part of the said indentures 
to the said I^wrence de Standish to keep with him and his heirs for 
ever. And also that both the said parties shall be sworn upon a book 
before me, the aforesaid AHce, in the presence of Sir Philip Boteler, Sir 
Richard Houghton, and Henry de Kyghley, truly and faithfully to hold 
this award in all points according to the true intent thereof. And if any 
altercation, case, or variance, full of matter of any circumstance or 
dependence thereof, amongst the said parties arise, that then the said 
parties shall be ruled by me the said Alice and my counsel therein 
until the time that this matter be at an effectual end by the advice of 
me the said Alice and my said counsel, so that I the said Alice determine 
this matter before the feast of St Michael next coming. Dated at 
Weryngton the Saturday next after the feast of St. Hilary in the 8th year 
of the reign of King Henry the sixth (1429), in witness whereof I the 
said Alice have hereto set my seal." 

This award does not appear to have been acted upon, for liti- 
gation continued to a later date. In the meantime Sir Ralph de 
Langton died in July, 1331,' and John Gerard of Bryn, within a 
year afterwards. William de Langton also appears to have re- 
signed the benefice about this time, for in 10 Hen. VL (143 1-2) 
we find him fining with the King as late parson of Wygan.* 

In the same year, 1432, James de Langton, brother of Sir 
Ralph, occurs as parson of Wigan.^ He is doubtless the same 
with the James de Langton, mentioned in the award of Dame 

* Chancery Rolls^ Lane, 10 Hen. VI. No 91. 

• Jbid.^ No. 99. > Ibid,, No 113. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 65 

Alice Gerard James de Langton, clerk, occurs in 16 Hen. VI. 
(1437-8) as one of the executors of the will of Edmund ffrerc. 
Abbot of Vale Royal.' And James de Langton, probably the 
same, was admitted to the prebend of Stotfold, in the cathedral 
church of Lichfield, on 5th July, 1442.^ 

The litigation with the Standishes was still pending several 
years later, and had now assumed a dilTcrent form ; for 
James de Langton, parson of Wigan, makes his petition to 
the Lord Chancellor with reference to the matter formerly 
in dispute between the I^nglons. on the one part, and Lawrence 
de Standish and Alexander, his son and heir apparent, on 
the other, concerning the right of patronage to the church of 
Wigan, which had been submitted to the arbitration of Alice, 
late wife of John Gerard of Bryn, by Sir Ralph I^ngton, 
knight, and Lawrence de Standish, Esq. " By her award it was 
deemed that Sir Ralph Langton should grant an annual rent of 
40f. out of his lands and tenements to Lawrence, but, because all 
the lands and tenements of the said Sir Ralph were entailed, a 
fine and recovery was necessar>' to secure by law the said rent of 
401. And the said Alice prayed the petitioners, James, brother 
to Sir Ralph and a fcofiec, and the said Lawrence, in order to 
prevent any bad consequences in the event of her award not being 
carried into execution, to be bound in a statute merchant^ of 
i^i.ooG to abide by such award as she should give ; and, upon the 
trust and assurance that they had in the said Alice, they delivered 
to her their obligations of statute merchant, under condition to 
abide her award in reformation of the |)ayment of the said rent 
of 401., without any defeasance of this condition put into writing. 
After which Alice and I^wrence died before the award was 
given or reformation of the payment made, and upon her death 
the said Alexander, who had married Constance, daughter of the 

• Ckamery A\^/t, Ijutc., |6 Hen. VI. No. l8i. • U Neir«*i Fasti. 

I A ftUtutc merchant was allowed by King fulwanl I. in Cavour ot penple en g i ft d 
in trade ; by which the charging of land wat allowed for the payment of debts coo- 
tractcd in trade. The statute was afterwards extended to all debts iaditcrimiiiately. 

K 



66 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

said Alice, seized on the obligation of statute merchant, and took 
out letters of administration in the name of Oliver de Standish, 
an infant, his son, and in the name of John Dale, a poor labourer, 
to administer the goods of the said Lawrence, his father. And 
notwithstanding that the said Alice had given no award, nor 
made any reformation in the payment of the annual rent in her 
lifetime, the said Alexander makes the said Oliver, his son, and 
John Dale, to sue against the complainant for the said statute 
merchant, against all right and conscience, at Lancaster, where 
he has such favour, suretyship, and succour to support him in 
his wrong. And he has lately got three persons favourable to 
him sworn at the sessions at Lancaster, there late holden, so that 
it is like to be perpetual destruction to your said suppliant, without 
help and favour of your gracious lordship to consider these 
premises, and thereupon send several writs of sub poena to the 
said Alexander, Oliver, and John Dale to appear before your 
lordship in the King's court of chancery, at a certain day by your 
lordship to be limited, and there furthermore to do and receive 
as right hath and good conscience at the reverence of God and 
in way of charity."' 

There is no date to the copy of the petition from which this is 
taken, but it was probably made in or about the year 1442, in 
which year James de Langton, parson of Wigan^ opposes himself 
to Alexander Standish, gent., in a plea that he should give up to 
him a certain deed of statute merchant, which he unjustly detains. 
James de Langton did not appear to prosecute and he is sum- 
moned to be in court on the Wednesday next before the feast of 
St. Lawrence next coming.^ 

In a later plea of the same year, James de Langton, now 
described as late of Wygan^ in the county of Lancaster^ clerk, is 
summoned to answer Oliver Standissh and John Dale, the ad- 
ministrators of the goods and chattels of Lawrence Standysh, 



* Standish Evidences ^ as before {Local Gleanings^ vol. iL pp. 62, 63), 
' Plea RoilSf Lancast., 20 Hen. VI. No. 4. 



History of Ifu Church and Manor of Wii^an, 67 

otherwise called Lawrence de Standish, who died intestate, as it 
is said, in a plea that he should pay them £\.QCO. which he 
unjustly withholds from them. The aforesaid administrators 
appeared in person, and said that the aforesaid James had 
acknowledged his obligation on the Tuesday next after the feast 
of St Matthew. 9 Hen. VI. (1430). The aforesaid James also 
appeared in person, and denied that the said obligation was the 
deed of him the said James as the administrators supjx)sed. and 
both parties appealed to a jury of their countr)'men. The suit 
was adjourned from time to time, and was not determined till 
the 24th of I len. VI., when a verdict was found for the defendant, 
James de I^ngton." 

In the meantime James de Langton, who apj>ears to have been 
a man of dissolute life, was obliged to fly from Wigan. probably 
for debt, and in the year 20 Hen. V^I. the sheriff of Lancaster is 
ordered to take James de Langton, parson of the church of 
Wigan, late of Wigan. in the county of Lancaster, clerk, as an 
outlaw.' The fact of his being an outlaw will account for his 

• Pita RoUt, I^iic, JO H«i. VI. 

* IhtJ, By another order of the tame year the Sheriff it charged to take 
Chrifttopher de Ijin^on, late of Goldlmme. in the county of Lanca«ter. f^eotle* 
man, ton of James de I^n^^ton, (arson of the church of \Vi(*an, late of Wigan, 
in the same county, clerk ; Edward de langton, late of Adtnirgham, gentlemaa, 
•on of the afureviitl Jame^ ; I'l'lmund de langton, late of II . ... in the %ame 
county, gentleman, »on of the aforesaid James; Oliver de Langton, late of Wigan, 
gentleman ; William de Langti>n, late of Wigan, gentleman ; and many others, 
chiefly from Wigan and the neighl>ourhood, inclu<Jing Margaret IIoIerol>yn of Wigan, 
conctiUne of the aforesaid James de I^mgton. l*hc alM>%e menlioneil Edward de 
langton, »on of Jame%, was accuveii of concealing two Wigan men who hail comnutted 
murder. 

The morals of the English people generally, both clergy an*! laity, were dqdormhly 
low at that pcri(M), antl the numerous ecclesiastical abuses which occuned were rapidly 
preparing the way for the reformation. Hut it Wi-tuld lie unfair to judge the clergy of 
those times by the stanilard of «»ur own. The sy%tem i>f concubinage among the clergy 
was one of the evil results <»t a forced cclilacy, which ha«l never been willingly recetvcd 
in Englan«l. Messrs. Owen an«l Itlakeway, the learned authors of the ihUfiry §f 
Skirtrthury (vol. ii. p. 21), assume that in Sason times mamage was universally pcr> 
mittcd to the parocbul clergy and «ecular canon« ; they give instances of bene6ces. 



68 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

non-appearance to prosecute his plea against Alexander de 
Standish in that year, and for his being then described as late of 
Wigan^ when summoned to answer the administrators of the will 
of Lawrence de Standish. 

He appears, however, to have recovered his position in the fol- 
lowing year, 21 Hen. VI. (1442 -3), in which year Alexander Standish 
de Standish, gent, is attached to answer James de Langton, 
parson of the church of Wigan, in a plea that he should give up 
to him a certain writing of obligation of a certain statute mer- 
chant, which he unjustly detains from him. On this occasion 
James appears by his attorney, John de OxclifT, and says that, 
whereas on 7th June, 7 Hen. VI. (1429), he delivered to a certain 

descending from father to son for many generations, and among them the well-known 
case of Whalley, in this county, where there were eleven deans in succession inheriting, 
either lineally from father to son, or collaterally. The church of Rome, indeed, had 
attempted to put a stop to the marriage of the clergy from an early period, but, as 
Lord Selbome says, in speaking of the Church of England {Defence of the Church of 
England, p. 36): **It had only been by slow degrees that the requirement of celibacy 
was imp>osed upon those of the clergy who were not bound by monastic vows. It was 
attempted in the time of Dunstan : but Pope Gregory VII. was the first (a.d. 1074) 
to forbid the people to attend the ministrations of married priests : their sons also were 
placed under canonical disabilities. In England marriage had been so general among 
the clergy that Pope Pascal II., writing to archbishop Anselm in A.D. 1 100, took 
notice of that fact, and that * the greater and better part of the English clergy were 
clergymen's sons*; for which reason he considered, that (as to them) the observance of 
the Roman rule must be dispensed with. In a synod held at Westminster under Anselm, 
two years after the date of this letter (a. d. 1 102), canons were first passed forbidding 
the English married clergy to live with their wives." But long after this, even so late 
as 1372, it was still common for the clergy to have their domestic homes and families ; 
nor do the bishops seem to have set themselves seriously against it, for in the parlia- 
ment of that year (46 Edw. III.) the commons pray that the prelates and ordinaries 
should not be allowed to take sums of money frx)m the clergy for permitting them to 
keep their concubines openly ; and if any of the beneficed clergy and curates should 
openly keep their concubines for a certain time, for which they are liable to be deprived, 
and are thereby deprived of their benefices by the ecclesiastical law, and the bishops 
and ordinaries do not put the law in execution within half a year of the said time, that 
then such benefices should become void by the law of the land, so that the patrons might 
again present to them. And if the ordinary who makes the default be himself the 
patron, that such benefice should lapse to the King to present, and in that case the 
bishop or ordinary should be bound to accept the person so presented (Rymer, sub anno. ) 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 69 

Alice, late wife of John Gerard of Bryn, the said writing of 
obligation, in which it is contained that Lawrence de Standish is 
bound to the said James de Langton in the sum of i^itOOO 
sterling ; after the said Alice died the said Alexander possessed 
himself of the said writing, &c.> Hence it appears that there 
were counter suits going on between the said James de Langton 
and the Standishes — all of which were probably determined by 
the decision of the 24th of Hen. VI. before mentioned. 

I do not find any further mention of James de Langton, and 
the next Rector that I meet with is 

Oliver de Langton, who, as Rector of Wigan, in 145 1, 
covenanted, for himself and his successors, to pay ^^20 yearly to 
the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield.' I suppose him, therefore, 
to have been admitted in that year. The pedigree of the Lang- 
tons in Baincs*s Lancashire gives an Oliver de Langton as 
younger son of that Henry de Langton, Baron of Newton, who 
died in 7 Hen. V. If this were the present rector, he will have 
been the brother of his predecessor, James de Langton. 

In his time the churchyard of Wigan appears to have been 
the scene of some battle or civil brawl, in which human blood 
was shed, for by his letters of 15th March, 1457-8, R[eginald 
Boulers], Bishop of Lichfield, issues a commission to Ralph 
Ducworth, S.T.P., Vicar of Prestecote, and Sir Edward flfarington* 
Rector of Halsall, to inquire into the facts of the case. He tells 
them that since he heard that the cemetery of the parish church 
of Wigan, in his diocese, had been notoriously polluted by 
violence and the unlawful shedding of human blood, he had 
interdicted it from ecclesiastical sepulture until full reconciliation 
should have been made, and desires them to hold a legal inquiry 
as to the person by whom it had been polluted, and who had 
been the cause or occasion of it, and return to him a faithful 



• Hm KMs, Unc,. 21 Hen. VI. 

* Em tmf. Rev. F. P. Parker, from Lich6cl(i Cathcdrml Mamnieiit Room. 



70 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

report of the matter. » It is unfortunate that no record of the 
return has been found in the Diocesan Register, for it would 
probably have recorded matters of interest connected with the 
History of Wigan. Oliver Langton was still living in 1462-3, 
when, as parson of the church of Wigan, he appears, by his 
attorney, against Robert Merik, late of Bedford, in the county of 
Lancaster, husbandman, and Matthew Astley, late of the same 
place, yeoman, in a plea for recovery of a debt of six marks, 
which he claimed from each of them. 2 

After this I meet with no mention of any rector of Wigan 
till after the close of that century. 

John Langton will probably have been Rector of Wigan at 
the beginning of the sixteenth century. All that I know of him 
is that he died rector of Wigan in 1504. 

Sir Thomas Langton was admitted, 9th August, 1504, to 

the parish church of Wigan, vacant by the death of John Langton, 
the last rector, on the presentation of James Anderton, William 
Banastre, Thomas Langton, brother of Gilbert Langton of the 
Lawe, and William Wodcokke, true patrons for that turn by 
virtue of the feoffment made to them by Ralph Langton, Esq., 
deceased, of all his lands and tenements together with the advow- 
son of the said church.^ The author of the History of Langton ^ 
informs us that on 6th December of the same year, 20 Hen. VII., 

' Lichfield Dioc, Reg, Commissio ad inquirendum supra poUucionem cemeterii de 
Wygan, Dat. sub sigUlo noitro in maneric nostra de Beaudesert ti^ die mensis Martii 
anno Domini mecdvii^ ei nostre translacionis anno quinio. Entries concerning the pollu- 
tion of churches and churchyards are not infrequent in the Lichfield Diocesan Register, 
A commission of inquiry was usually issued with power to interdict the churchyard, 
if found to be polluted, and to keep it closed until reconciled by an episcopal service. 
The form may be seen in MaskelPs Riiualia. This course of treatment is one among 
many proofs that the churchyard, by virtue of consecration, was wholly under eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction. The parishioners' rights were contingent, and subject to suspen- 
sion by interdict, with no remedy at common law [ex in/. Bishop Hobhouse). 

• Plea RollSf Lane, 2 Edw. IV. (Lent term). 

5 Lichfield Diocesan Register, 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 71 

Thomas Lanjjton, clerk, rector of Wij^an, acquired the custody 
of the lands held by Joanc, widow of Ralph Langton, until the 
full age of the heir.' This rector was probably a brother of Ralph 
Langton, Baron of Newton, though he is not mentioned in the 
pedigree. They seem to have been a short-lived family, and he 
died within two years of this date. 

Mr. Richard Wyot.S.T.P.. was admitted i6th August, 1506, 
to the parish church of Wigan. vacant by the death of Sir Thomas 
Langton, by the Reverend Father and Lord Geoffrey, bishop of 
Coventry and Lichfield, on the presentation of King Henry VII. 
by reason of the minority of Tht>mas Langton, son and heir of 
Ralph Langton. deceased. ^ 

Richard Wyot (Wiot or Wyett) had been ordained acolyte 22 
F*el).. 1493-4, and was Proctor of the University of Cambridge in 
I4<>S and 1501.^ He was admitted to the prebend of Hishops- 
hill in the cathedral church of Lichfield, in September, 1506, 
which he resigned in Januar>'. 1508-9, for that of Ruiton in the 
same church, which latter he held from loth Februar>', 1508-9, 

' iiiJi>ry of l^Hgton^ by John llarwo()i! Ilill, p. ja Mr. Hill «ayf that he had the 
custiHly of thc^ UntU given to him at \\\\s <laic. on the <lcath of the vai«i Ji>anr. but 
her <lcath at thi% time nwxsX l»c art axvumptitm (»n >fr. Ilill'i part, {%>x she wa» certainly 
livmg after this ilate. Jaine. the wkIow of Ralph I^n|;;ton, «-a% the flaughtcr «>f Sir 
C'hh»t'»|>her S^mthworth of Samkobury. She \% em^nemi^ly called Klixatjeth in the 
pi*<lii;ree pnnteJ in liaine^* I/tst.yry of Ltm-.itkire. Her hu\tan<l hail liequeathol to 
her the cu^toily of hi% chiMren, but the warrl^thip of the heir of a military tenant 
ltvlon|;eil to the King, ami it wa« t») the Kin|*\ (^lant uf 13th May, 1 504, 19 Men. VH., 
that the widow h.iil cuvtiMly of the estates, heM by kni)*ht'ft service. tof»e(her with the 
marria{|*e of the heir (see l^tm*\ukttf an.i Chnhtrt \%%IU^ e«iite<l by Rev. <•. J. I*icco|>e, 
p. 246, printei) for the C hetham Tract b). I presume that %he viM her rights (i»f 
perhapft only the cu%t<Mly of the lands) to Thomas langton ; after whose death she 
grantet) them, on I Ith Novemlier. 1 506. 22 Hen. VII .to Sir Mwanl Stanley, a younger 
•on of Thomas first Earl f>f Derby, po^mlarly known at the hero of KltMldcn Field, 
and in consequence of hit gootl servicet createtl Loni .Monteaglc, who eventually 
married the heir to hit own daughter Klixabeih. 

• Lichtield IhiXtsam Kefistrr, I jb. xiii., now in the Chester Diocesan Registry. 

* Atkrmr Oimtahriiirmsfs, toL t. p. 26. He bore fc»r hit armt^-/^ fast autre amJ 
gules, «i hitrnacie argrmt. 



7 2 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

until within a few weeks of his death. ' In the meantime he had 
been collated on ist September, and admitted on 3rd September, 
1507, to a prebend in the collegiate church of Southwell, which 
he retained till his death in 1522.2 

By an inquisition taken after the death of Sir Alexander 
Standish of Standish, knight, on 2Sth August, 1508, the jury 
found that the said Alexander died seized of a messuage called 
Bromley (now called Brimelow, in the township of Wigan), 
valued at loar. per annunty which he held jointly \yith his wife 
Sibilla, who survived him, of Richard Wyot, Rector of Wigan, 
by the service of 27.^. yearly ; also of two burgages in Wigan, 
valued at four marks, which he held of the same Richard Wyot 
for a rent of 6s, id.^ 

It appears from a petition presented to the King by Maister 
Richard Wyot, clerk, parson of the church of Wigan (the date 
of which is not given in the roll), that, for a long time past, it 
had been the use and custom of the town and borough of Wigan, 
whenever a vacancy in the mayoralty occurred, for the burgesses 
to elect three of themselves, whose names should be presented to 
the parson of the church of Wigan, who should appoint one of 
them to be mayor for the ensuing year.^ 

Mr. Richard Wyot was Master of Corpus Christi College, 
Cambridge, in 1509, which post he resigned in the following 
year. 5 He resigned the rectory of Wigan in or before October, 
1519, and on 13th November of the same year he was admitted 
as precentor of York, an office then void by the resignation of 
Thomas Linacre,^ who had already succeeded him at Wigan. 
Dr. Wyot died in July, 1522, and was buried at Southwell, in 



« Lc Neve's Fasti. • Ibid. 

> Abstracts o{ Inquisitioms post mortept^ Chetham Tract xcix. p. 141. 

* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings^ vol. vL W. No. 7. 

s Le Neve*8 Fasti ; Cooper's Atherue CanUsbrigitHses. According to Le Neve he 
became Master in 1507, but according to Messrs. Cooper he was more probably 
elected to that office in 1509. 

• Le Neve's Fasti, 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 73 

accordance with directions given in his will, being at the time of 
his decease a prebendary of Southwell, prebendary and precentor 
of York, and rector of Bingham, in the county of Notts.* His 
will was proved on 31st October, 1522. 

On loth October, 15 19, ThuMAS Lynacre (or Linacre) 
Doctor of Medicine, was admitted to the church of Wigan, 
vacant by the resignation of Mr. Richard Wyott, Sacra Tluologi4B 
Profi'ssoris, on the presentation of Thomas Langton, Esq.* 

Linacre was a man of great learning and refinement. 
Erasmus, the great European scholar, entertained the highest 
opinion of him, and asks, when writing about his English friends, 
" What can be more acute, more profound, or more refined than 
the judgment of Linacre }'* Dr. J. N. Johnson, his biographer, 
goes the length of saying that to Linacrc*s labours '* England 
stands indebted for the knowledge of the finest language of an- 
tiquity and medicine owes its elevation to that rank amongst 
liberal arts from which it had long been estranged by the 
ignorance or cupidity of its professors.*' -5 Linacre was bom 
about the year 1460. at Derby, according to llolinshed, who is 
followed by Weever and Fuller, but Dr. J. N. Johnson prefers 
to look upon Canterbur)' as his birthplace, on the authority of 
Dr. Cuius, the president and early annalist of the College of 
Physicians founded by Linacre, who describes him as Cantu* 
arimsis. If not born at Derby, however, as is most probable, 
there is but little doubt that he was of Derbyshire extraction, 
being descended from an ancient family who were owners of 
Linacre, a hamlet or subordinate manor to that of Chesterfield, 
and the fact of his leaving a benefaction to the town of Derby 
seems to imply some connection with that locality. 

The first instructions he received in Grammar were obtained 
at the public school in the monastery of Christ Church, at Canter- 
bury. The master at that time was an Augustine monk, named 

• Lc Ncvc*i Fatti. • Lichfichl DiMfjam Kigutfr, 

I i.iff 0/ Tkomat Ltmofrt, hj]ohn Noble Johuuii, M.D., edited hf Robot Crmvtt, 
Sto,. 1835. 

L 



74 History of tJie Church and Manor of Wigan. 

William Tilly, otherwise called Selling, from the place of his 
birth, a man of learning and research, who had studied Greek in 
Italy, where that language had been cultivated for several years. 
From this master, who is supposed to have been in some way 
connected with him by birth, and who seems to have taken an 
affectionate interest in his education, Linacre acquired a taste for 
a higher class'' of learning than was usually taught in the English 
schools. He went up to the University of Oxford in 1480, when 
he had reached his 21st year (a later age than was customary for 
the entrance of students to the University in those days), and in 
1484 he was elected to a fellowship at All Souls. While at 
Oxford he is understood to have become the pupil of Cornelio 
Vitali, an Italian of noble birth, who had been forced to leave 
his native country, and who is believed to have been the first to 
give instruction in Greek, not only at the University, but any- 
where in England.' At this period of his life Linacre is 
said to have applied himself to the study of Greek, and 
laid the foundation of that perfection in it which he so amply 
displayed at a later period of his life, in opposition to the studies 
which were then sanctioned by the statutes and customs of 
the place.2 Here, too, he made the acquaintance of William 
Grocyn and William Latimer, who shared with him his devotion 
to the "new learning" ; and one of whom, Grocyn, survived 
to form part, with Linacre himself, of that brilliant circle of Ox- 
ford scholars, who excited the admiration of Erasmus.^ About 
the year 1485 or i486 he availed himself of an opportunity that 
was then presented to him of going into Italy, where he met with 
great facilities for improving himself in his favourite studies. His 
former tutor Selling, the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, 
being sent by King Henry VII. on an embassy to the court of 
Rome, offered to take Linacre with him as a friend and com- 
panion. Leland says that he was to have occupied a subordinate 

• 'iohnsorCs Life of Linacre^ P« '3» * ^^^' 

3 Dr. Payne's Introduction to Linacre's translation of Gaieni Pergamensis de Trm- 
peramentis^ (l88l») p. 7. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 75 

position in the embassy, but if so his plans were altered, for they 
travelled tojjcthcr no further than Bologna, where they fell in 
with Angelo Folitiano, whose friendship Selling had made on a 
former occasion. To him Linacre was introduced by Selling, who 
left him at Bologna to profit by the introduction, while he himself 
proceeded on his mission to Rome. The University of Bologna 
then held a high rank among the schools of Plurope ; but Linacre 
did not make any long stay there. For after Politian had left it 
he followed him to Florence, where he became his pupil. 
These were the days of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael 
Sanzio ; and Florence, under the rule of Lorenzo de Medici, 
was the favoured home of the arts and sciences The chief in- 
struments in the encouragement of classical learning, at that time, 
were I'olitian and Demetrius Chalcondylas, with both of whom 
Linacre became intimate, and by whom he was introiluced to 
Lorenzo the Great. These two had been jointly apix>inted tutors 
to Lorenzo's .sons Pietro and Giovanni de Medici, of whom the 
latter afterwards became Pope under the title of Leo X. The 
superiority of Linacre*s attainments, and the modesty of his de* 
meanour, won for him the approbation of Lorenzo, and procured 
for him the privilege of being associated with the young princes 
in their studies, and residing with them as their chosen companion 
in their hours of relaxation and amusement. 

After a residence of more than twelve months at Florence, 
Linacre prcKeeded to Rome, in order to avail himself of the 
superior advantages which the Christian capital afforded to the 
advanced scholar. Here he was fortunate enough to form a 
friendship with the famous Hermolaus liarbarus, the friend of 
Pope Innocent VII I., whose acquaintance he accidentally made in 
the library of the Vatican. From Barbarus he learned much, and 
from him he is said to have acquired ideas which considerably 
influenced his future life and character. The residence of liar- 
barus was then practically an academy, to which the learned 
resorted for instruction and gratification, and Linacre became a 
frequent visitor at his house, and partici|>ated in the intellectual 



76 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

entertainments which were held there. After staying several 
months at Rome he went to Venice, and here made the valuable 
acquaintance of the great printer, Aldus Manutius Romanus, who 
was then engaged inbringingout the^^///V7«^i'/f7«a*^^jof someof 
the most important Greek classics, by which he earned the gratitude 
of scholars, and who afterwards printed some of Linacre's own 
works.' Aldus appears to have treated the English scholar with 
great kindness, which is acknowledged as a personal favour by his 
friend Grocyn, in a letter to Aldus, which must have been written 
shortly after Linacre's return from Italy.^ This letter was pre- 
fixed by Aldus to Linacre's translation of Proclus " On the Sphere*' 
printed by him in the year 1499. The book is dedicated to 
Albertus Pius, Prince of Carpi, and in his dedication Aldus speaks 
highly of Linacre's scholarship, saying that he "has translated 
this work with elegance and learning." He also implies that an 
intimate friendship existed between Linacre and the Prince of 
Carpi on which account the work, he says, will be the more welcome 
to his patron. The Aldine editio princeps of Aristotle likewise con- 
tains an interesting allusion to Linacre, which seems to shew that 
he had something to do with the editing or correcting of that 
great work. This second volume, to which the dedication is pre- 
fixed, is dated February, 1497, while the first volume is dated in 
149s, which is quite reconcileable with the time when Linacre 
is believed to have been in Venice. ^ 

From Venice he went to Padua, then celebrated for its schools 
of medicine. Here he is said to have taken the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine, and to have greatly distinguished himself in the 
disputations that were held in the schools. The tradition of 

' Aldus, in a dedication to M. Musurus, a learned Greek, prefixed to an edition of 
Statius, printed by him, speaks of the residence of many strangers in Italy at that 
time, and says ** Hahemus Grodnum Sacerdotem and Thomam Linacrum (Medicum) 
Britannos ; viros undecunque doctissimos, qui diu Fiorentia, sub Demetrio Chalcondyla^ 
Cracis Uteris ituubuerunt."' (Lives of Leland, Heame and Wood, Oxford, 1772, 
vol. I. p. 7.) 

• Paync*s Introduction as before, p. 9. ' Ibid., p. 11. 



History of Uu Church and Manor of Wigan. 7 7 

Linacrc's successful disputation at Padua is preserved in a 
dialogue by Richard Pace, where Grammar and Rhetoric are 
made to dispute as to the respective merits of Theodore Gaza 
and Thomas Linacre. Grammar first claims Linacre as her own ; 
Rhetoric contends that he was by right her son, and that Grammar 
was only the occupation of his leisure moments. On one occasion, 
says Rhetoric, he condescended to dispute with some Grammar- 
ian on certain mi/iM/zV? connected with the vocative case, but gained 
a more brilliant victory when he defended his tluses for gradua- 
tion at Padua, " Nam quum in gymnasia Patavino froffssionis 
artis medica ei (ut nunc maris est) darentur insignia, fmblice mm 
sine summA lande disputavit, et seniorum mcdtcomm adversaria 
argumenta accuratissime refellity^ 

From Padua Linacre turned his steps homewards, passing 
through Vicenza, Verona, Brescia, Bergamo and Milan. While 
at Vicenza he attended the lectures of Nicolaus Leonicenus, a 
celebrated physician and scholar, best known as the author of the 
earliest treatise on Syphilis, but also celebrated for having trans- 
lated several works of Galen from the Greek, one of which, viz., 
the treatise " De motu Musculorum^* was afterwards published 
by Linacre with some of his own.' 

His departure from Italy was accompanied by those proofs of 
friendship which the learned in that age were accustomed to ex- 
change. Dr. J. N. Johnson gives examples of some of the Latin 
odes that were then addressed to him. On his return to Kngland 
he seems to have resumed his residence at All Souls' College, 
Oxford. The Knglish universities used, at this period, to recog- 
nize the honours conferred upon their members by foreign 
academies, and the degree of Doctor of Medicine which he had 
received at Padua was confirmed to him at Oxford by an act of 
incorporation immediately after his return home. 

It is believed that this incorporation by his own university was 
followed by a similar act at Cambridge. It has been suggested 

• ra>ne*» Intixxiuction, p. is. U/i »f Tk^mas IJtuurt^ hjr John NoUc johntoo, 
p. 144 note. * Pijnie** Introdoctioii, pc 13. 



78 History of i/ie Church and Manor of Wigan. 

that the cause of his migration to Cambridge may have been one 
of those visitations of the sweating sickness which overtook the 
city of Oxford during the reign of King Henry VII. It is known 
that many Oxford men went to Cambridge to avoid the conse- 
quences of it. In 1496, the Cambridge Senate, by a decree, 
gave leave for certain persons, members of the sister University, 
to be incorporated amongst them, whenever they should come 
thither, either during term or vacation, and Linacre may well 
have been one of those who availed themselves of this act of 
grace. John Caius, the historian of Cambridge, however, says 
that he migrated to Cambridge in order to avail himself of the 
superior reputation and learning of that University.' But he does 
not appear to have stayed there long, for it was certainly at Ox- 
ford, in the year 1497, that he made the acquaintance of Erasmus, 
who became his pupil in Greek, and with whom he formed a friend- 
ship which only ended with his life. Among his other pupils may 
also be mentioned the gentle and amiable Thomas More, afterwards 
Sir Thomas, the Lord High Chancellor of England. During 
this period of his career Linacre was actively engaged, with his 
friend Grocyn and others, in forming at the University a taste for 
ancient literature. Up to this time the schools were almost 
entirely in the hands of the different sects of logicians ; and it is 
to the efforts of Linacre and his associates that we may attribute 
the important reforms that followed, so that they may be con- 
sidered as the regenerators of the University system. 

His translation into Latin of " T/ie Sphere'' of Proclus was 
probably the first translation of a Greek author into Latin 
made by an Englishman. It seems to have been made 
partly in Italy, and completed or revised during his residence at 
Oxford, in the interval between his return from that country and 
his invitation to the King's Court in 1501. There is no record of 
his having practised medicine at Oxford, and his time there seems 
to have been fully occupied in teaching Greek and preparing his 
translations. 

* Johnson's Life of Linacre^ p. 154 note. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wi^an. 79 

In the year 1 501, Arthur, Prince of Wales, came up to Oxford, 
and resided for a short time at Ma^^dalen College, under the care 
of Richard Mayhew, the President. It was settled that, after the 
marriage contract with the Infanti, Catherine of Arragon, had 
been completed, the Prince, now in his fifteenth year, should be 
placed under the charge of a tutor. For this important post 
Linacre was selected and sent for to London ; and Tanner s^xraks 
of him as ''pneceptor in lin^ui ItalicA " to both Prince Arthur 
and Princess Catherine. He is also said to have been **Archiatcr*^ 
or chief medical attendant, of the King.' The unsettled state of 
physic as a science before the revival of learning in the fifteenth 
century rendered the practice of it rather a necessary accom- 
plishment to the priesthood, with which it was generally united, 
than a distinct art cultivated on fixed and certain principles. To 
the ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages degrees in medicine conferred 
equal privileges with those in their proper faculty ; but they gave 
to the [>ossessor no claim to public confidence or to a remunera- 
tion for their services as practitioners.^ The practice of medicine 
was in those days chiefly confined to men of no scholastic learn- 
ing, and was closely allied to the arts of alchemy and necromancy.^ 
The fitness and ability of Linacre to discharge the duties of his 
new appointment had been shewn by his recent translation of 
the ** Sp/irrc" of Proclus, the first edition of which he dedicated 
to his Royal pupil. 

• Tanner'* Ftht'to. Hrtt. ihhernua^ p. 4S2. 

* I>r. J. N. John^m's I.tfe i?f LitMcre^ p. 16^. 

^ Some curious infonnatit>n on thi% »core wok given in eviilence at Archlnfthnp 
(*rin<)al\ visitation uf the colle^ at Manchester in IS7I* Nicholas Danajrcll ^\cyyye*\ 
of hit lirr>ther-fcllow, Sir Kdward Holt, mho ke|>t an ale-house himself, frrt}uenie«l 
ale-hou&es, and was a drunkartl, that " he doth minister a dirmatorye in physicke to 
dyvers which all do dye after !he same ; and also he doth let Idcxle ami cut rayne of 
divers, whoe after the same l>e done they dye ; and when he %houlfl serve God be 
runneth ab(»ut his phisicke ami surgerye." {ex inf. J. E. lUiley, \m\.\ On Liaacte's 
monument in St. TauPs Cathclral it is %aid of him that he was " Framdfs d^^tfue 
mtrf ^fn^sMJ." It is highly (iroliable that this hears some reference to the tricks of the 
roetlical practitioners, and is intendeii to distinguish hini from the ordinary trmvelUng 
" physicians '* and mtiuntebanks of the flay. 



8o History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

The early death of Prince Arthur, on 2nd April, 1502, in the 
sixteenth year of his age, disappointed the high hopes that were 
entertained of his future career, and terminated the engagement 
of Linacre within a year of his accepting it The loss he thus 
sustained, however, afforded him greater leisure for the renewal 
of his owa studies, and allowed him to enter upon the practice of 
his medical profession without interruption from his official duties 
at Court 

The death of King Henry VIL, on 21st April, 1509, and the 
accession of Henry VHL, which was hailed with joy by the 
nation, brought with it a change in Linacre's life. His immediate 
connection with the Court had probably ceased from the death 
of Prince Arthur, in 1 502 ; for his office of physician to King 
Henry VH., if he ever really held it, could have been little more 
than a nominal one, and he had subsequently fallen in that King's 
estimation on account of the insinuations of Bernard Andrfe, an 
Augustine friar, his rival to the post of tutor to the young prince, 
who accused him of piracy from an earlier translation of Proclus. 
At the commencement of the new reign Linacre had returned to 
Oxford, where he read a sJiagling lecture.* His talents, and the 
valuable services he had rendered to the University were now 
fully recognised, and a laudatory address was made to him, by 
members of the University, apologising for their past remissness, 
and thanking him for all he had done for them. The young 
King Henry VHL, who extended his patronage to the most 
eminent scholars of the age, and in forming a new Court was not 
unmindful of those who had held office in the former reign, paid 
Linacre the compliment of appointing him Physician to His 
Majesty. In this capacity he enjoyed the King's favour and 



' Dr. Bliss, in a note in the Atken, Oxon. vol i. p. 43, says that these lectures were 
"such as were extraordinary, or temporary, allowed either by public authority, common 
consent, or recommendations. " It was a favourite word with Ant. ^ Wood (the 
Author of the Athtna and Fasti Oxon.), who again uses it of Edmund Crispyne of 
Oriel College, "lately a shaglin^ lecturer of physic, now (1547) one of the procton 
of the University." Fasti Oxon,, vol i. p. 126. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 8i 

conndcncc, <ind occupied a hif;h {K)sition. I lis friend Lilly speaks 
of him as "conspicuous amonjj the chief persons of the Court, in 
a purple robe and a hood of black silk." ' The King's palace 
beinjj then at Bridewell, in the City of London, Linacre seated 
himself in the same neighbourhood, which was rendered all the 
more agreeable to him by its vicinity to the precincts of St. 
Pauls, where Colet, his friend and former companion at Oxford, 
was now residing as Dean, for at this time they were great allies, 
though, unhappily, they afteruards quarrelled. By Sir Thomas 
More, on whom the highest offices of State were about to devolve, 
he w«is still retained as preceptor ; and More expresses himself, 
on one occasion, to Colet. as devoting his time to the society of 
Grocyn, Linacre, and Lilly ; the first he calls the master of his 
life, the second the director of his studies, and the third the dear 
companion of his affairs.^ Linacre*s reputation as a physician 
was now at its height, and amongst his patients were Sir Reginald 
Bray, K.G.. the Lord High Treasurer, to whose will he was a 
subscribing witness in 1503. Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop War- 
ham, and Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester. He appears to 
have kept up a connection with Cambridge, to which he afterwards 
became a benefactor, and it is probable that he visited it more 
frc<|uently whilst his friend ICrasmus was in residence there. In 
a letter from the latter to Andreas Ammonius (who was secretary 
to Henr>' V'HI.). dated at Cambridge iij. Non. Oct. 1511, he inci- 
dentally mentions Linacre as being with him at that time. He 
says that after mass he heard the tramp of horsemen, and being 
himself engaged in writing he begged Linacre to look out, and 
was told that Ammonius was leaving.-* 

A strange story has been told of a doubt res|)ecting the truths 
of Christianity which Linacre is said to have conceived in conse- 
quence of his theological studies. The earlier part of his life is 
reiK>rted to have been passed, in common with most of the tatty* 

' Dr. PayiicS I nt reduction. j», iS. • JohnM>n*i Lift ff Limture, p. 183. 

* Brcwer\ Ixttcn aivl ra|>cr» Korei}^ tnd Dumestic, Ump. lien. VI II., vol i., 
255. 

M 



62 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

in a neglect or total ignorance of the sacred writings ; and when 
he took up the New Testament for the first time, and came to 
that part of St. Matthew's Gospel which contains the Lord's 
Sermon on the Mount, he had no sooner read the command 
" Swear not at all " than he threw away the book with violence, 
exclaiming, "either this is not the Gospel or we are not Christians." 
Fuller, when relating the story, says the speech is capable of " a 
cJiaritable sense, as taxing men's practice so much different from 
God's precepts."' If the story has any foundation of truth this 
is probably the proper interpretation of it : but the whole state- 
ment looks like invention ; and it is rendered unlikely by Linacre's 
known habits of moderation, and by his many ecclesiastical 
friendships, which, with the single exception of Dean Colet, were 
preserved without interruption till his death. This story rests 
on the sole authority of Sir John Cheke, Professor of Greek at 
Cambridge, in a letter to Bishop Gardiner, Chancellor of the 
University, written in 1555, many years after Linacre's decease. 
And the object seems to have been to flatter Gardiner at the 
expense of Linacre, whom Cheke may have regarded as a rival 
Greek scholar. 

It is not clear when, or from whom, Linacre received his 
deacon's orders ; but I should suppose that he was ordained in or 
before the year 1509; for on the 23rd October of that year he 
was collated by the Primate, Archbishop Warham, to the Rectory 
of Mersham, in Kent, which, however, he resigned within little 
more than a month -.2 and on the 14th September of the same 
year he had been installed prebend of Easton in Gardano in the 
cathedral church of Wells.3 

In the following year he was admitted to the vicarage of 

' Wort hits of Derbyshire^ fol., p. 236. 

■ Dr. J. N. Johnson's Life of Linacre^ p. 192. 

* Cooper's Athena Cantahrigienses, vol. i. p. 31. According to Dr. J. N. Johnson 
he received this stall in December^ 1509* l>ut no authority is given. Le Neve's list of 
the prebends of this sta/l docs not commence till 1517. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wij^an. 83 

Ilawkhurst, in Kent, on the presentation of the Abbot and Con- 
vent of Hattel, which he retained until 1524,* the year of his 
death. We can hardly imagine that he was not even in deacon's 
orders all this time, but there is no record of his ordination, and 
the church discipline of that date was exceedingly lax. 

He appears to have accepted some preferment also in 1515 ; 
for Erasmus, in a letter to Ammonius, written from Dover on 
lOth April of that year, sends his congratulations to Linacre, of 
whom he says, he had heard something at the archbishop's not 
without pleasure.^ And Ammonius, in his reply, dated at London 
19th M«iy, 1 5 15, says Linacre has a living; ** saccrdotio auctus 
est r^ from which, I suppose, we are simply to understand that 
he had taken the name and position of a clerk or clergyman, for 
certainly he did not receive his priesfs orders until some years 
later. 

Sir Thomas More, writing to Erasmus in 1 5 16, tells him that 
Linacre had been spe<iking highly of Erasmus, as he heard from 
some who were present at a supjKT given by the King, where the 
praises of Erasmus were sung.^ 

In this year also Erasmus writes to Linacre a letter, dated 
from St. Umer, on 5th June, 15 16, in which he complains of a 
slight fever which had prevented his sailing, and begs him to send 
a prescription which had done him good when he w<is last in 
London, but which his ser\'ant had left at the druggist s. In the 
same letter he expresses himself anxious to see Ltnacre's 
^* Lucubrations r and. alluding to his own edition of the New 
Testament which had just been published in (j reek, he says "the 
New Testament gives such satisfaction to the learned, even 
among divines, that the unlettered are silent for shame."^ 

In the latter years of liis life Lin«icre devoted himself to 
the study of theology, of the new views of which he had 
doubtless heard much from his friend Colet, who had bcea 

' Johnvon** I.tfe cf I^na^te^ p. 192. 

* Letter^ ati'l Stale Taixr^ t-tircign aii'l iV^mcstic. vol. L p. too. 

• /*!./.. i^ ly*. * /*«*/.. p. 43a ' IhJ., v«I. li. p. 15J4, Appen«iix. 



84 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

at Florence during the agitation and enthusiasm excited by 
the preaching of Savonarola, with which he was deeply 
impressed. It is probable that the painful disease with which 
he was afflicted greatly interfered with his practice as a physi- 
cian, and to this cause may in some measure be attributed 
his turning himself to the faculty of Divinity. It must be remem- 
bered that Law, Physic, and Divinity, the three grave professions 
as they were called, were in those days more closely united, and 
physicians were readily admitted to holy orders. It appears, too, 
from Linacre's dedication of his translation of Galen " de NaturalU 
bus Facultatibus" to Archbishop Warham,that in devoting himself 
to the sacred profession he hoped to find more leisure for his 
literary work. All these causes may have actuated him to seek 
admission to the priesthood, but it was some time before he was 
actually ordained to that holy office. 

It IS clear that Linacre had not given up the practice of his 
medical profession at this time, for among the King's annual 
expenses there is, in June, 1516, an entry of ;fi2 los. for one 
quarter's wages to Dr. Lunacre ;^ and many similar entries of 
such payments afterwards occur therein. He was also physician 
to the Queen at this time. 

By the King's letters, under the Privy seal, dated at Windsor, 
19th Aug., and by his letters patent of 24th August, 1517,* 
Thomas Linacre, clerk^ was nominated to a canonry and prebend 
in the collegiate chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster, in the place 
of Andreas Ammonius, deceased. By letters patent of 6th March, 
1517-8, he was presented to the Church of Hollesworth (Hols- 
worthy) in the county of Devon ;3 and on 7th October, 1518, he 
became prebendary of South Newbold in York Minster, which 
he only held for about six months."* 

' Letters and State Papers Foreign and Domestic, vol. ii. p. 1472. 

* Rymer xiij. p. 597 ; Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic, vol. ii. p. 1 147, 
No. 3624. 

3 Pat, 9, Hen. VIIL, p. i, m. 12. 

* Willis' Cathtdrals. I lis name is not given in Lc Neve's Fasti. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 8 5 

In a letter from Erasmus to William Latimer, written from 
Antwerp in 1 5 18» he says that if he had such men as Linacre and 
Tunstal for his preceptors, not to speak of Latimer himself, he 
would not wish for an Italian to teach him Greek.* There is also 
extant a letter from Linacre to Budasus (Budd), written from 
London on loth June, 15 18, in which he tells Bud^ that he thinks 
of his past favours with gratitude ; of the books he received from 
him ; and his care in revising his ''Lucubrations*' He has sent 
him some rings (cramp rings) consecrated by the King, as a charm 
against spasms.^ In his reply, dated at Paris, on loth July, 
BudtS acknowledges the receipt of his letter with the rings on 6th 
July. He had just drawn on his boots for a ride, and would not 
answer in haste, as it was written in such an elegant style, and 
he did not like to be outdone. He finds by his letter that Linacre 
desires to thank him for a copy of his book " De Asse,'* which he 
had presented to him when he was at Paris in the suite of Queen 
Mary, and for the services he had rendered to him in overlooking 
his lately published work. His services were not a gift but a fee 
to purchase the advocacy of Linacre in England. He cannot 
regret the time he employed in Linacre's version of " Dc Sanitate 
TucndAy He has distributed among the wives of his relatives 
and friends the eighteen rings of silver and one of gold he received 
from him, telling them that they were amulets against slander 
and calumny.-^ 

In another letter written from Paris on 9th September of the 
same year, Budc thanks him for his present, but more for his letter. 



■ letters and Tjikt* Foreign and Domestic, vol. ii. p. I219, No. 391a 
• Ibid, j>. 1310, No. 4223. These ring^ were much sought •fter. The time for bles&iog 
them wxs Good Friday. Anne Itoleyn sent four of them to Teter Vannesand the other 
Aml>as&adt)rs who were working the divorce at Rome. Queen Mary l>Iessed htmdreds 
of them, and they were in goxi request at the Em|ieror's Court. (Ex. imf. J. E. 
Bailey, En^.) (iuillaume Hudc (Budams) was master of the Court of Requests, and 
Librarian td King Francis I., and one of the greatest scholars of the age. Linacre 
had forme<l hi?» acquaintance at Paris, when he attended King Henry VU. and the 
Prince^^ .Nfary to France, at the time of her nurnage to King Lrniis XII. 
' Letters and Papers Foreign and I>omcsiic. vol. u. p. 1331, No. 430 j. 



86 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

He knows that he has little leisure for correspondence, admits 
his excuse, and hopes to be excused, in his turn, for not having 
written to Linacre. He has been extremely busy with matters 
very different to his former employments. Lupset has shewn him 
Linacre's specimen of Galen, of which Bud^ highly approves. 
He thinks the French Embassy will be in England at the time 
Linacre receives this letter ; wishes Linacre to let them know 
that he is intimate with Bud^ ; and commends to his notice 
Beraldus, in the suite of the Bishop of Paris.* 

The college of physicians in which Linacre had taken such a 
lively interest was incorporated by charter of 23rd September, 
1 5 18, at the request of John Chamber, Thomas Linacre, and 
Femand de Victoria, the King's physicians ; Nicholas Halswell, 
John Francis, and Robert Yaxley, physicians ; and Thomas 
Archbishop of York, chancellor. The college was permitted to 
acquire lands to the value of ;£^I2 yearly ; and no person was to 
be allowed to practice in the medical profession within the city 
of London, or seven miles round, without the licence of the 
President and College.^ 

On 29th April, 1519, Linacre became precentor of York,^ 
which he resigned in the following November to Dr. Richard 
Wyot, late Rector of Wigan, after having been himself admitted 
to the Rectory of Wigan on loth October of that year. 

Up to this time, however, he was not in priest's orders, and he 
must have held his previous appointments as a deacon, or possibly 
some of the earlier ones as a layman. It has been conjectured that 
he received from Pope Leo X., his old school companion and friend, 
a dispensation from the necessity of passing through the inferior 



* Ibid..^ vol. ii. p. 1360, No. 4422. I have given the date of this letter from the 
Opera Budai (as furnished to me by Mr. Chancellor Christie), where it is given in full 
and ^2Xcd pcstridU natalis diva: Dei parentis. It probably alludes to a later present 
and letter of Linacre. 

■ Rymer, vol. xiii. p. 364. Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic, vol. ii. p. 
1367. No. 4450. 

3 Le Neve's Fasti. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 87 

clerical decrees ; and that this may have been the kindness to 
which he aUudcs in the dedication of his translation of Galen's 
" De Tciffperamcntis" in which he refers to some recent and 
striking proof of the Pontiffs munificence, shared by him in 
common with others, who had been also his school -fellows at 
Florence. But. as Dr. Payne says, " if there were any such dis- 
pensation, it is more likely that it was one enabling him to hold a 
benefice, while still a deacon, or perhaps even a layman, since 
we find that Linacre's first clerical preferment was given him in 
the year of Henry the Kighth's accession, which must have been 
that of Linacre's appointment as Court Physician, and it seems 
highly improbable that his ordination should have taken place 
almost simultaneously with this appointment." There is no 
authority for supposing that such a dispensation was given him ; 
but there is nothing to make it improbable. It was enacted in 
the Parliament of 3 Hen. V^I. (1425) that anyone then holding a 
spiritual benefice should be made a priest within twelve months 
after the close of the said Parliament, failing which it should be 
lawful for the patron to make a new presentation, "notwith- 
.stondyng the plenerte of tymc be vi moneths ;" and for the 
future, any man, who should have any spiritual benefice, of any 
man's presentation, must become a priest within twelve months 
of the time of his induction, subject to the same penalty.' This 
would seem to imply that it was not uncommon at that time for 
a spiritual benefice to be held by one who was not in priest's 
orders, and therefore Linacre may well have received a papal 
dis{>ensation extending the time within which he must necessarily 
proceed to the order of the priesth(X)d. 

The following extract from the Register of Richard Fitz James, 
Kishop of London from 1506 to 155 i, proves that he was ordained 
to priest's orders on 22nd December. 1520, to which his Rectory 
of Wigan gave him a title : ** Ei a MDXX. 22 Dec. ad dioccs. Cot*. 

• A*i^. Part. vol. ir. i>. 291. 



88 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

et Lich. spectans ordinabatiir presbyter ad tittdum ecclesice sua de 
Wigan, aijiis Rector extitit," ' 

He was still acting as King's physician at that time, for there 
is an entry of the payment of ;^I2 ioj. to him for a quarter's 
wages among the household expenses in 1520.^ 

In March, 1521, Sil[vester de Gigles], Bishop of Worcester, 
writing from Rome 3 to Pace, says "The Pope will comply with 
Linacre's wishes, the King's Physician.""* And on May 7th of 
the same year Christopher Longolius, writing from Padua to 
Linacre refers to his generosity when Longolius was in England 
the previous year.5 

On 1 2th May, 1521, Pace writes to Pope Leo X. from London, 
saying that the Pope has laid him under such a debt of gratitude 
as he can not even express. He says "Aloysius Gibraelon, my 
agent at Rome, has told me how promptly your Holiness not 
only granted to Thomas Linacre, the King's physician, what I 
had asked, but also added m'xh to lay me under still greater 
obligations." He can only offer his prayers for the Pope's pros- 
perity. As to the affairs of Luther, he has only proved himself 
a true ecclesiastic.^ 

On 25th Aug., 1521, Erasmus, writing to Linacre from Bruges, 
expresses his sorrow on hearing of his declining health ; urges 
him to publish his writings, and not deprive the world of the 
fruits of many years' labour.7 

On 8th March, 1522, the King's writ is issued for Thomas 
Linacre, the King's physician, to have a canonry in St. Stephen's 
Westminster, vice Thos. Waren, deceased ;8 and on 29th Novem- 
ber, 1522, Edward Fynch, M.D., has the King's writ for a prebend 

• Tanner's Bibliotheca Britannico Hibentica, p. 482. Wood's Athena, Ed. Bliss, 
vol. i. p. 46. 

• Letters and State Papers Foreign and Domestic, vol. iii. p. 408. 

3 He died at Rome on 16 April, 1 521, when Julius de Medicis, a Cardinal, after- 
wards Pop>e Clement VII., was made Administrator of the See of Worcester by the 
Pope's Bull, dated 31 July, 1 521, and so continued for about a year. 

4 Letters and State Papers Foreign and Domestic, vol. iii. p. 453. 

3 Ibid., 481. * Ibid, 485. ? Ibid,, 618. • Ibid,, 898. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 89 

in the collegiate church or chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster, 
in the place of Dr. Linacre, who has resigned.' 

It was probably in 1523 that Linacre, in writing to Archbishop 
Warham, excuses himself for not having dedicated to his Grace, 
according to his promise, the last volume of his translation of 
Galen's '^ Dc Natnralibus Faailtatibus" He had been com- 
manded by the King, in the presence of Mr. John Chamber, to 
dedicate it to his Highness. In this letter he acknowledges 
himself indebted to the liberality of the Archbishop for the 
opportunity of devoting himself to letters.' 

It is clear that he never could have resided at Wigan. Soon 
after his admission to it he was appointed preceptor to the young 
Princess Mar>% afterwards Queen, to whom he dedicated his 
" Grammatica Rudimcnta^' intended to help her in her studies. 
Moreover, his duties at Court, as physician to the King and 
Queen, will have exempted him from residence on his benefice, 
and m<ide it necessary for him to live in London. The house 
which he occupied was situated in Knightrider Street, in the 
parish of St. Benedict, Pauls Wharf. It was distinguished by 
the name of The Stone House, probably from the material of 
which it was built, which was then rare and costly, and but sel- 
dom used for private mansions during the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries. This house he aftcnvards assigned to the Medical 
College of his own foundation, retaining a part for the use of 
himself and his family during his life. The disease from which 
he suflcred was the stone, and to this complaint his constitution 
at length succumbed after much suffering, the immediate cause of 
his death being an ulceration of the bladder. He died at his own 
house, in Knightrider Street, on 20th October. 1524. in the 64th 
year of his age ; and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, before 
the rood of the North door, a spot chosen by himself and ex- 
pressly sfiecified in his will. His grave was marked by no 

• IhJ., 1 1 33. 

* Fuller's Wofthtfs of England, cl. of 1S40, toI. i. p. 374, where the letter is given 
in full from the original in Linacre't own handwriting, but it is without date. 

N 



90 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

memorial until the year 1557, when, after a lapse of 33 years, a 
comely monument was erected to his memory by Dr. John Caius, 
then president of the College, with the following inscription on a 
brass plate : — 

" Thomas Lynacms, Regis Henrici VIIL medictis^ vir & Grcec^ 
& Latink atque in re niedicd longe eruditissimus : midtos cetate 
Slid languenteSy & qui jam animam desponderanty vitce restituit : 
multa Galeni opera in Latinam lingtiam, mird & singulari faam- 
did vertit: egrcgium opus de emendatd s true turd Latini ser- 
monisy amieorum rogatu, paulo ante mortem edidit. Medicince 
studiosis OxonicB publicas lectiones duas, Cantabrigice unam, in 
perpetuum stabilivit. In hdc urbe Collegium Medicorum fieri sud 
industrid airavity cujus & Prcesidens proximus electus est. 
Fraudes dolosque mirk perosus : fidus amicis : omnibus ordinibus 
juxta clarus : aliquot annos aniequam obierat Presbyter f actus. 
Plenus annis ex hdc vitd migravit, multum desideratus^ Anno 
Domini 1524, die 20 Octobris, 

Vivit post funera virtus. 

ThomcB Lynacro Clarissimo Medico, 

Joltamus Caius posuit, anno 1557." 
This monument remained till the year 1666, when it was 
destroyed by the great fire of London. Dr. F. N. Johnson gives 
the following copy of Lynacre's will, which is preserved in the 
Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury :» 

" Testament of Thomas Lynacre, Doctor in Medicine. 
In the name of God, Amen. The xix^*^ day of Juyfi, in the yere 
of our Lord God a thousande fyve hundred and xxiiij, and the xvj 
yere of the reigne of Kyng Henry the Eigh?, I, Thomas Lynacre, 
doctour of phesike, being hole of mynde and in good memory, 
lawde and praysing be vnto almighty god, make, ordeyn, and 
dispoase this my present testament and last will, in manner and 
fourme following : that is to witt, ffirst, I bequeth and recomende 

' Bodfield 21, fol. xxxvi. His arms were, sable^ a chevron between 3 escallops 
argent y on a chief or, as many greyhounds" heads erased of the field. (Cooper's A then. 
Cantab. ) 



History of the Church and Manor of IVigan. 9 1 

my soul vnto Almighty, &c., and my body to be buried within 
the cathcdrall churchc of Saint Poule, of London, before the rode 
of North dorc there, bitwenc the longc forme and the wall directly 
over agaynst the saide rode. And I bcqucth for my buriall there 
to be had suche convenient sumc of money as shalbe thought by 
the discrecions of myn executours. Item, I bequcth to the high 
awter of Saint Benet, where I am pishcn, for my tithes forgotten 
in dischai^e of my soule and conscience, xiij^ iiij^. Item, I 
bcqucth to the high awter of Saint Stcphyns, in Walbrokc, for 
my tithes there forgotten in discharge of my soule and conscience, 
vj* viij**. Item, I woll that suche due dctts as I owe of right or of 
conscience to any maner psone or pcrsoncs shall be well and 
trucly contented and paid. Item, I woll that Alice, my suster, 
shall yerely during hir lyfe have of the londcs to be bought for 
my lectour at Cambridge, syx pounds sterlinge to be paide to 
hir halfe ycrcly. And I woll that Joane, my suster, shalhave 
during hir lyfe fyve pounds sterlinge of the landes to be bought 
for the said Iccto"", in like manor and fourmc to be paide, or ells 
the said sumcs to be yerely xceyvcd of the profits of my lands 
in Kent or in London, after the discrecions of my Lorde of 
London [Bp Tunstall], Sir Thomas More, knyght, and Maister 
John Stokcslcy, Prebendary of Saint Stev>'ns at Westmynstcr. 
Item. I bcqucth to Thomas Lynacre, my brother, xl*. Item, 
I bequcth to my two neses. Agnes and Margaret, eche of 
them a beddc, with all things to it complete, after the discrecions 
of myn executours, so that Margaret shalhave the better. Item, 
I bcqucth Mr. William Dancastcr a fethcr bed and two Irishe 
blanketts, with a bolster. Item, I bequcth to John Plumtre 
these boks, Palax, Thucchiddes, w* that that foloweth, Thcoder 
and Apolones, Libanius Dcclamacions, Theocritas with the 
coment, Pyndarus with the coment, the coment upon Omer. 
Item, I woll that my funeralls and burying shall be doon in 
moderat maner, after the discrecions of myn executours. Item, 
I bequcth to Richard my serunt, a blak gowne of iij' a yarde, 
and xl* in money, for the gcxKl scr\'ice that he hath doon to me. 



92 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

Item, I bequeth to eche of John Appulby and Edward Tagge, 
my serants, a blak gowne a pece of iij^ a yarde and vi^ viij^ a 
pece ; and I woll that all my serunts and housholde have mete 
and drynke for a moneth next after my deceffe. Item, I bequeth 
to my cosyn, Robert Wright of Chester, a doblet cloth of blak 
satyn, beyng in the keping of my sister Alice. Item, I bequeth 
to Richard Wright a black gowne and xx^ in money. Item, I 
bequeth to Elizabeth, my mayde serunt, a blak gowne and hir 
wages after the rate of xxvjs viij^ by yere. The residue of all 
my goodes, whatsoever they be after that my detts be paide, my 
funerall charges doon, and these my legacies and bequets ex- 
pressed in this my present testament and last Wille fulfilled and 
perfourmed, I woll shalbe solde by myn executours ; and the 
money comyng of the sale of the same to be applyed for and 
towards the pformauns and fulfilling of this my present testament 
and last Wille. And of this my present testament and last Will 
I make and ordeyn my Lord Cuthbert, Bishop of London, Sir 
Thomas More, knyght, and Maister John Stokesley, Prebendary 
of St. Stevyne at Westmynster, myn executours, desiring and 
requiring them to substitute and make som honest proctour vnder 
them,*to take the labours aboute the pforming of this my testa- 
ment ;^and the same proctour to be rewarded for his diligence 
in that behalfe w^ parte of my goodes, after the discrecons of my 
said executours. These witnesse, Maister William Dancaster, 
clerk, William Latymer, clerk, John Wylford, Notary, Richard 
Hardyng, John Appulby." 

The said will was proved on i8th July, 1525. It is remarkable 
that his brother should have borne the same Christian name as 
himself, but this was not very unusual. 

"The character of Linacre," says Johnson, his biographer, 
"has been drawn in high but not undeserved terms by those 
who were best qualified to give an opinion of his merits. 
It has been questioned whether he was a better Latinist or 
Grecian, a better grammarian or physician, better as a scholar 
or as a man for his moral deportment. For his accurate skill 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 93 

in the Greek and Latin tongues, and in other sciences, as well 
as in his own profession of medicine, he was esteemed the orna- 
ment of his age. By his endeavours Galen speaks better Latin 
in the translation than he did Greek in the original ;> and 
Aristotle shines not more in his Attic than in his Latin garb."' 
•* In private life he had a detestation of everything that was dis- 
honourable ; he was a faithful friend, and was valued and beloved 
by all ranks in life. He showed a remarkable kindness to young 
students in the medical profession ; and those whom he found 
distinguished for ingenuity, modesty, learning, good manners, or 
a desire to excel, he assisted with his advice, his interest, and his 
purse. ^ In short" (to use the words of Dr. Friend) "he was, in 
his own time, reckoned by the best judges a man of bright genius 
and a clear understanding, as well as of unusual knowledge in 
different parts of learning ; and his works, which are now extant, 
will fully satisfy us that he deserved this character. He was one 
who, both living and dead, by his writings and benefactions, has 
done great honour not only to his profession but also to his 
country." Linacre was evidently a lover of nature, and it is 
reported of him that he first brought into England that prince of 
flowers, the damask rosc^ 



* Fuller'* Worthia, 

* I>ettcrs of Erasmus :^" Tandem apud ncs pr^itart e^pit dilenusa Limacro versus^ 
qui miki tupra madnm placet, Postfuu ft muduum fieri juvai, Afitto d^nc iibr^s 
Galeni operS Linacri melius Rcmane Uyquenta quam antea Grace loque^tnturj^ 
(Krasmi Epist^Ut apud Froben^ p. 363. ) ** Apud Briiannos studio Thom*t lAnain sic 
nuper di \ertus cteptt esse Galenus^ ut in suJ littt^ parum disertus videri possit, Ejusdem 
cperA sic Lattne legit ur Aristoteles, ut licet Atti^us vix in suo sermom parem kaheai 
iratusm" (Ibid, Lib. 15, Kp. 17, p. 494-^ 

s The anonymous editor of Ltnacrc*s translation of Galen de Symptcmatibus {pves 
the following encomium of the translator: — ** Linacrus^vir ut utriusque lingua 
doctissimus ita rec<?nditarum artium cum primis erudttus : qui studi^Hos omnes \dum 
tixerat] ad me/i^r^m i/lam mentem n^n mi\io adk<>rtabatur vtrum etiam maximis 
munenbus et finer e et alert solebai ut non immertto tanquam alter Aiaeenat d^etit 
kominibus kaberetur. '* 

* liastcd'i AVif/, Tol. \t, p. 743 note. 



94 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

The following is a list of his published works as given by Dr. 
Payne, with the order and dates of their publication : — 

1. Translation oiProclus de Sp/icerd, Venice, by Aldus Romanus> 

1499; folio. 

2. Translation of Galen, De Sanitate Tuetidd, Paris, Gulielmus 

Rubeus, 1517. 

3. „ „ Metliodiis MedendL Paris, Desiderius 

Maheu, 15 19. 

4. „ „ De Ttffiperamentis et de inaequali intem- 

perie, Cambridge, Siberch, 1521; 4to. ' 

5. „ „ De Naturalibus Facultatibus, London, 

Richard Pynson, 1523 ; 4to. 

6. „ „ De Pulsuum Usu^ &c, London, in cedibus 

piftsonianis sine amio ; 4to. 

7. „ „ De Symptomatum Differentiis ; et Causis. 

London, Pynson, 1524; 4to. 

8. Riidimenta Grammatices. London, in cedibus piftsonianis sine 

anno ; 4to. 

9. De Emcfidatd Structurd Latini Sermonis. London, Pynson, 

1524; 4to. 
Of these the 2nd and 3rd were dedicated to the King, and the 4th 
to Pope Leo X. 

The Royal College of Physicians in London was founded by 
Linacre within two years of his death, and endowed by him with 
his lands in Kent and in London. Of this College he became 
the first president, and his house in Knightrider Street, which he 
gave them, was for many years their place of assembly. He 
is said to have made a charitable donation to the town of 

■ This was probably the first book printed in England in which Greek type was used. 
It was re-produced at Cambridge in 1881, from Siberch's Cambridge edition of 1521, 
with an introduction by Joseph Frank Payne, M.D., Fellow of Magdalen College, 
Oxford, with a portrait of Linacre. The Aldine Edition {princeps) of Aristotle 
makes allusion to Linacre : " Thomas AnglicuSf homo et grace et IcUine periiissimus 
pracellens que in doctrinarum omnium disciplinis, ** His own copy, with his autograph, 
is in New College, Oxford (^jc inf. J. E. Bailey, Esq.). 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 95 

Derby;' and established and endowed three Medical lectures, t^'o 
at Oxford, which were eventually appropriated to Merton College, 
and one in St. John's Collejje, Cambridj^e. His portrait is in the 
College of Physicians, and that, or some other portrait of him 
was engraved by Thorne. Her Majesty the Queen possesses at 
Windsor a three-quarter portrait painted by Holbein or Matsys, 
said to be Linacre's. He wears a black dress and cap, a white 
shirt, and holds a paper in the right hand. As the paper bears 
the date 1527, doubts have been cast upon the authenticity of 
the painting. A bust of Linacre. in bronze, by Sir Henry 
Chcere, is in the library of All Soul's College, Oxford.* 

There is no record of the next rector's institution in the 
Diocesan Registry ; but Linacre's immediate successor was, 
doubtless, 

Nicholas Towneley. who. in 1528-9. as parson of Wigan 
and chaplain to the Cardinal, petitions the King (in his Court of 
the Duchy of Lancaster) concerning one Hugh Paige, who had 
been contumacious. The said Hugh had appeared in the parson's 
court on the Tuesday before Palm Sunday, 19 Hen. VHI. (31st 
March. 1528;, to defend himself in an action for debt brought 
against him by one William Paige of Wigan, and on being asked 
what he had to say in his defence he refused to make any answer, 
whereupon the bailiff of the court proceeded to give judgment 
against him. But when the bailiff produced the records used 
for the purpose, the said Hugh, with "great violence," took 
them from him. thrust them into "hys hoys," and. taking a staff 
in his hand. ** then standing in the said hous," said that " yf eny 
of them all came nere hym he shuld brayn them, and then the 

• The Author of Athen.t Cantah. gives IIutton\ //r tory of Drrby for hU authority. 
The p.'uvigc from which he <iuote«» is doubtless that given c»n p. 2S0. — ** Nor ilid he 
forget the place <if his nativity ; for he left an annual Itcnefactlon to Derby, yet called 
Linager*s charity." This passage, however, on which I ha«l trustol (p. 73) a* Sf>fDe 
evidence as tt> the place of hik hirth. i> not to he rvlietl on ; for though there is at l>erby 
a charity called " Linacrc's charity" it was founded by l«et>rgc Linacre, by his will 
dateil 27th Srpt. 1703 {I'ui. 17th Ke|K>rt t»f the Charity Commissioners 1K27, p. 17). 

• Athena CaHtahrigientn, vol. i. pp. lo. 31. 



96 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

said Hugh departed." Since which time he has made no answer 
in the said action. Nicholas Towneley therefore prays the Court 
to command his appearance before the King's Council to answer 
the said charge.* 

This rector was a younger son of Nicholas Towneley (3rd son 
of John Towneley of Townley, in the county of Lancaster), 
and brother of Richard Towneley of Royle, in the county of 
Lancaster. He was chaplain to King Henry Vni.,^ clerk 
of the works at the building of Cardinal College, now Christ 
Church, Oxford,^ and chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey. He was 
appointed to the prebend of Dunnington in the cathedral 
church of York 29th December, 1531,^ and died in the following 
year, when his goods were administered by his nephew of the 
same name. 

** Nicholas Towneley, administrator of the goods of Nicholas 
Towneley, late parson of the church and parish of Wigan (who 
died at Hampton Court on or about the loth of November, 
24 Hen. VHL, 1532,)" complains that certain com and hay of 
the value of £10, lying in the barn at the parsonage at Wigan, 
the property of the said Nicholas Towneley, deceased, had been 
unlawfully seized by Geoffrey Shcrington, William Hasteley, 
chaplain, curate of Wigan, and Robert Chatton, who with divers 

' Duchy of Liincaster Pleadings ^ vol. iv. 20 Hen. VIII. T. No. 4. 

' Foster's Pedigrees of Lancashire Families ; Whittaker*s History of Whalley (cd. of 
J. G. Nichols and P. A. Lyons), vol. ii. p. 178. 

3 Whittaker {Ibid, p. 418, or possibly his editors, for the words are in brackets) 
says that Nicholas Towneley was Vicar of Rochdale in 15 10 ; and also that he was 
nephew of Dr. Bernard Towneley, whom he calls Rector of Wigan and Vicar of 
Felkirk, co. York (giving as a reference lAinc. MSS. vol xxx. p. 26). There is a 
mistake here somewhere, for Dr. Bernard Towneley was not Rector of Wigan. 
Perhaps it was Nicholas that was Vicar of Felkirk as well as Rector of Wigan. And 
if the Vicar of Rochdale in 15 10 was the same person he must have resigned Rochdale 
some years before he was admitted to Wigan, for Sir Gilbert Ilaydoke was Vicar of 
Rochdale in 1522. Whittaker rightly describes him as the nephew of Sir Bemaitl 
Towneley, LL.D., who was 5th son of John Towneley of Towneley, Esq., and 
brother of Sir Richard Towneley and of Nicholas the lather of the Rector of Wigan. 

* Lc Neve's Pas/i. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 97 

other riotous persons, "forcibly and in manner of warr i^nth bowcs, 
staves, clobbes, swerdcs, daggers, and other wepens of warre, ap- 
parelled and araied, came, menassed, and thretenyd to bete and 
ill entrcate " the said Nicholas, if he meddled with any of the said 
com or hay, in consequence of which the said Nicholas, to avoid 
further strife and variance, was obliged to "forsak the further 
enterprise and meddlyng " to his " grete losse and hyndcraunce." 
He therefore entreats that an order may be granted command- 
ing the said riotous persons to answer the charges brought 
against them. On their appearance in court, the said Robert 
Chatton, Geoffrey Sherington, and William Hastcley, clerk, in 
answer to the said charges, declare the bill of complaint of 
Nicholas to be ** insufficient in the lawe,'* inasmuch as the com- 
plainant does not allege any certain day when the supposed riot 
was committed. Robert Chatton denies all the charges, and 
Geoffrey Sherington and William Hasteley state that when the 
said complainant came to Wigan, they told him that they had 
orders from one Mr. Richard Smyth, clerk, parson of the church 
of Bury and official of the Bishop of Chester, that they should 
stay the said corn and hay, and, in peaceable manner, without 
any weapon, they desired the complainant to leave it in the bam 
until Mr. Smyth had been communicated with ; William Hasteley 
at the same time giving a quart of wine to the complainant, whom 
they allege to have departed forthwith in "good manner." The 
said defendants also state that they were not aware at that time 
that the said administration had been committed to the com- 
plainant, and to their certain knowledge the said corn and hay 
were still in the parsonage barn. 

Nicholas Townelcy, in reply to these statements, avers that 
when he came to the bam, accompanied by Rauf Standisshe, 
Esquire,' and Alexander his son, and some of his servants, he 

■ lUlph Standish of Standish, Esq., had a general pardon from »he Crown, I Hen. 
VII., 14S5, and died 1538, aged 8a His son and successor, Alexander Standish, 
Esq., married Ann, daughter of Sir William MoIjdcqi of Sefton, knight, in 1518^ 
and carried on the line. 



98 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

found the defendants ready with their weapons to maintain pos- 
session for the said Richard Smyth, and that he offered to be 
bound in £^o to Geoffrey Sherington to discharge them for the 
said corn and hay, if they would allow him peaceably to have the 
same. But this offer was refused, and Nicholas being enforced 
to leave, went to the said Smith and obtained a letter from him 
to William Hasteley, commanding him to let him (the said 
Nicholas) take possession of the said corn and hay. When, how- 
ever, three of his servants were sent to the bam for that purpose 
they were resisted by the defendants, and were obliged to depart 
with their mission unaccomplished. The complainant therefore 
prays the court that the said corn and hay may be delivered into 
his hands forthwith. 

In reply to which Robert Chatton, Geoffrey Sherington, and 
William Hasteley deny every charge brought against them, and 
declare themselves ready to prove the truth of their statement at 
the pleasure of the court.* 

In the Hilary Term 26 Hen. VIII. (1534-5) the same Nicholas 
Towneley prefers a suit in the same court concerning a parcel of 
tithe corn of the parish of Wigan, which was let by Nicholas 
Towneley, clerk, late parson of the parish church of Wigan, to 
Sir Roger Bradshawe, knight,^ Richard Molineux of Hawkeley, 
gent., and Gilbert Holden, gent., for the term of one year for a 
certain sum of money, to be paid to the said Nicholas Towneley, 
clerk, or his deputy. The said Nicholas Towneley, clerk, being 
dead, and Nicholas Towneley having been appointed administrator 
of his goods, the latter demanded payment of one year's rent of 
the said tithe from the said Roger, Richard, and Gilbert, and 
being unable to obtain it from them, prays the court that such 
may be enforced.^ 

" Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, vol. vi. (No date) T. No. 7. 

' Sir Roger Bradshaigh, knight, of Haigh, died s.p. and was succeeded by his 
brother Sir Ralph. 

3 Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 26 Hen. VIH. vol. vii. T. No. I. The arms of 
Towneley of Towneley are arg^ a f esse sable^ three mullets in chief of the second. 



History of tfu Church and Manor of Wigan, 99 

The said Nicholas Townelcy, the younger, was the late rector's 
nephew, being the son and heir apparent of Richard Towneley 
(of Royle, in the county of Lancaster, jt4re uxoris), and a reader 
and Bencher of Gray's Inn. 

Two years later, in 28 Hen. VIII. is a bill of complaint of (the 
same) Nicholas Towneley now described as of Gray's Inn. The 
bill recites that one Nicholas Towneley, clerk, late parson of 
Wigan, died at Hampton Court 20th November. 23 Hen. VIII." 
(1531), and that the first mentioned Nicholas was administrator 
of his goods and chattells, and of matters in controversy between 
the said Nicholas (deceased) and Sir Thomas Langton, knight, 
for sundry and divers riots ; that whereas the said Sir Thomas 
hath wrongfully taken from him (complainant) some corn and 
hay remaining at the parsonage of Wigan, which amounted to 
the sum of £,2^, as well as do rent due to the said Nicholas 
(deceased) remaining in the hands of divers gentlemen within the 
parish of Wigan for their tithes ; that the complainant and de- 
fendant had submitted themselves, on i6th December, 26 Hen. 
VIII. (1534), to the judgment of Robert Wroith, King's attorney, 
who judged that the said Sir Thomas should pay to the said 
Nicholas, in full satisfaction of all suits, the sum of £^0 to be 
paid by instalments; but that after the death of the said attorney 
the said Sir Thomas refused to make any further payment ; and 
the said Nicholas (complainant) desires that he may be compelled 
to pay the same, as well as £\qo, in which sum Sir Thomas 
bound himself to pay the amount awarded by the said attorney 
to the said Nicholas.* 



' Tliis date is erroneous. In a former bill of complaint the date of NichoLis 
Towneley'* death is gi%-cn as on or about the loth of Novcml>er, 24 Hen VIII. 
(1532), and this is evidently the right year of his death, because he was appointed to 
1 prebend in York Minster on 29th Dcccmlter, 1531. 

■ Duchy of I^nca&ter Pleadings 28 Hen. VIII. vol viii. T. No. 2. In a second 
bill (of the same <latc) the same Nicholas Towneley \hows that one Etlwar.l Molyneux, 
clerk, deceaseil, late parson of Sefion, in the county of Lancaster, was indebted to 
Nicholas Towneley, clerk, parson of \Vtgan, decease<I, to the amount of ^^13 6i. S/,, 



I oo History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Richard Langton, the next rector, who succeeded Nicholas 
Towneley in 1532, was the second son of Sir Thomas Langton, 
knight,' of Walton in le Dale, the patron of the church. Had he 
outlived his father he would have become the head of the family 
and Baron of Newton, for his elder brother Edward Langton 
died before his father without surviving issue. But Sir Thomas 
Langton outlived all his sons, and at his death, in 1569, he was 
succeeded by the son of his younger son Leonard. 

Richard Langton, parson of Wigan, died in 1534-5. He was 
the last of this family who held the rectory of Wigan, of which 
no less than nine had held it since the advowson first came into 
the hands of the Langtons, in the reign of King Edward HI.* 

On the 24th of March, 1534-5, SiR RICHARD Kyghley, clerk, 
was instituted to the church of Wigan, vacant by the death of 
Richard Langton, the last rector, on the presentation of **egregii 
viri domini T/iome Langton, militis." He made oath that he 
would pay to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield the annual 
pension of ;{^20, due to them at the feasts of the Annunciation 
of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Michael the Archangel, according 
to ancient custom. ^ 

Soon afterwards, namely, by indenture of 8th April, 26 Hen. 
Vni. (1535), he granted and let to John Ketchyn, of Byshop 
Hatfeld, in the county of Hertford, gentleman, his church and 
parsonage of Wigan aforesaid, with all manner of lands, tene- 
ments, rents, houses, meadowes, leases, tithes, oblations, emolu- 
ments, and all other profits and commodities belonging to the 

also oi £^ the arrears of an annuity which the said Edward granted to the said com- 
plainant. On the death of the said Molyneux, Richard Smyth, clerk, parson of Bury, 
was appointed administrator to the goods of the said Molyneux, which were worth 
about 1000 marks ; but when the debts were submitted the said Smyth declared the 
goods to be iosufHcient to pay them ; this was found to be the case, but a certain por- 
tion of each debt was to be paid, and notwithstanding repeated promises on the part 
of the said Richard, the money owing to the said Nicholas still remains unpaid. 

' Chetham Tract li. p. 247, (Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories). 

* Some account of the Langton family, as patrons, will be given in an appendix. 

' Lichfield Diocesan Register, quoted from Noiitia Cestrimsis, vol. ii. p. 245. 



• •! • • 

• .• ••• ••• • • 

•• ! •!•••• 

• • ! • • • • 

• • • • k 



History of i/u Church and Manor of Wigan. i o i 

said parsonage, to hold the same from the Feast of the Annun- 
ciation for five years, paying to the said Kyghley, or his assigns, 
£\q6 xy, 4//.; » of which £6 13J. 4//. was the stipend to be paid 
to the curate who performed the ecclesiastical duties. 

The value of the living is thus given in the Valor EccUsiasticus^^ 
which was compiled in this same year (1535) : 

The Rectory of Wygan, in the hands of Richard 
Kyghley, is worth, in rents and farms, as well 
of free tenants as tenants at will in Wigan 

aforesaid, yearly ^^2500 

Also in the rents of two watermills there, yearly - 368 
In tithes of corn, yearly - - - - -56134 

In tithes of hay, yearly 0134 

In tithes of lambs, wool, calves, and flax, about - 3168 
In oblations, with other small tithes and oflcrings 18 00 
In perquisites, together with the profits of markets, 
estimated to produce, one year with another - 368 

The sum total being no 16 8 

From thence [are to be deducted], 

For the fee of Robert Langton, chief seneschal of 

Wigan, yearly 400 

For the fee of Robert Hatton, bailiff of Wigan, 

yearly 400 

For the fee of William Walton, under senesAial 

and clerk of the court, yearly - - - - 1 6 8 
The annual pension due to the Cathedral Church 

of Lichfield, in the county of Stafford - - 20 o o 
Pence annually due to the Archdeacon of Chester 

for synodals and procurations - - - - o 16 8 

Total [of deductions] 30 34 

Leaving a clear 80134 

■ Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings 31 Hen. VIII., toI. ii. K. No. 3. 
• Vol. V. p. aao. 



I02 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

We gather from the pleadings in the Duchy Court of 31 Hen. 
VIII. that Richard Kyghley, being unable to find security for 
the payment of his first fruits, had been extricated from his 
difficulties by John Ketchyn, a shrewd and wily lawyer, who made 
a good living out of church property both at Wigan and elsewhere, 
and who, jointly with Robert Hatton, a servant of Sir Thomas 
Langton, became security for him. In consideration of the 
assistance then rendered Kyghley rashly promised to Ketchyn a 
lease of his parsonage for as long a time as he should desire, but 
prevailed upon him in the first instance to accept of a lease for 
five years. ' This irregular and foolish engagement not only 
compromised his own freedom of action but entailed considerable 
loss upon his successors, and became the source of many subse- 
quent lawsuits ; for Ketchyn, being unsatisfied with his five years' 
lease, insisted upon taking one for thirty-three years ; and having 
found means to satisfy the patron, Sir Thomas Langton, knight, 
whose consent was necessary to render such a lease valid, he 
pleaded Kyghley's promise, which he enforced by withholding 
payment of his rent under the former lease. 

His next step was to purchase the first ensuing presentation 
to the benefice, which he obtained from Sir Thomas Langton on 
17th October, 30 Hen. VIII., 1538, being then described as of 
Hatfield, in the county of Herts, gent' On the termination of the 

» Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 31 Hen. VIII., vol ix. K. No. 3. 

' Lichfield Diocesan Register. The ancestors of John Ketchyn (whose name is 
variously written as Ketchyn, Kechyn, Kychyn, and Kitchen) are believed to have 
been tenants of the Abbot and Convent of Cokersand. Being trained to the study of 
the law John Ketchyn became supervisor of the Court of Augmentation, London* 
during its brief existence, and in 35 Plen. VIII., 1543, he purchased the dissolved 
Abbey of Cokersand, its site and some of its lands. As John Ketchyn, Esquire, he 
was nominated, on 13th February, 37 Hen. VIII. (1545-6) one of the Commissioners 
for the county of Lancaster to enquire into the history and value of the chantries, 
hospitals, colleges, free chapels, gilds, fraternities and brotherhoods, which had been 
dissolved by Act of Parliament and given into the King's hands, and to make a return 
therein to the King ; his fellow-commissioners being John (Bird), Bishop of Chester, 
Sir Thomas Holcrof^, knight, John Holcroft, Esq., Robert Tatton, Esq., and James 
Rokeby, Esq. Ketchyn afterwards settled at Pilling Hall, in the parish of Garstang, 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 103 

original lease, which expired on the 25th of March (the Feast of 
the Annunciation), 1 540, parson Kyghley attempted to re-enter 
upon his parsonage house and lands, but was resisted by Ketchyn, 
who insisted upon his right to a new lease. 

Parson Kyghley now lodged a bill of complaint in the Duchy 
Court, in which he recites the lease of 8th April, 1535, whereby he 
granted and let to John Ketchyn his church and parsonage of 
Wigan, with all manner of lands, &c, for five years, and states 
that the said John Ketchyn has proceeded against him concern- 
ing a surmised lease supposed to be made, by the said Richard 
Kyghley, of the said parsonage, for a term of 33 years, which he, 
the said parson, avows that he never made, neither had the said 
John paid the two last half-years' rent. The said parson prays 
that he, the said Ketchyn, may be enforced to pay the same. 
In answer to this bill, John Ketchyn says that all the matter 
contained in the surmised bill is only for the arrears of an annual 
rent of the parsonage of Wigan with the profits of the same, 
which matter is clearly determinable at the Common Law and 
not in this court. He therefore demands judgment, but, if com- 
pelled to make further answer, he declares that he has pursued 
no untrue bill against the complainant, but a just bill grounded 
upon a true lease made to him of the said parsonage plainly 
proved by "discrete and worshipfuU" deponents sworn in this 
court. He denies being in debt for the arrears of rent, and 
declares himself ready to answer anything the court may deem 
right. In answer to this Richard Kyghley declares that John 
Ketchyn and Oliver Houghton, ever since the Feast of the 
Annunciation, have kept him out of possession of his said par- 
sonage house. John Ketchyn, in his cross bill of complaint, 
states that the parsonage of Wigan and the lands appertaining 
thereto were leased to him for a term of 33 years at a rent of i^ioo, 
besides i^6 13J. 4//. to be paid to the curate of the church, and that 

and became member of parliament for the county of Lancaster in the first parliament 
of Edward VI. (Hiitory of Chantries in the county palatine of Lancaster, Chctham 
Tract, lii. pp. l & 2 note). 



104 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Richard Kyghley,Rauffe Bradshaw, Esq., Robert Kyghley, servant 
of the said Richard, Rauff Hormeston, gent, William Nayler, 
James Houghton, and others did reserve and take all the profits 
of the " Ester boke " of the said benefice, amounting to £y^ ; 
and further that, by command of the said parson, RaufT Browne 
of Ince, Hugh Scott, James Sherington, Nicholas Standysshe and 
James Dolphyn, " persons of cruell demeanor, in ryotous and 
forceable maner, wyth the nomber of x persons unknowen," 
entered the glebe lands of the said parsonage, ist April, 31 Hen. 
Vni. (1540), and did "forceably and rioutously convert and 
turne the erthe of the said glebe landys, and dothe yett kepe the 
possessyon " of the same, driving his beasts and cattle into the 
common highway. He further asserted that the said Richard 
Kyghley promised to seal an indenture jointly with the patron 
and ordinary of the said benefice, by reason of which promise 
the said Ketchyn made diligent suit to Sir Thomas Langton, 
knight, the said patron, for the sealing and delivery of the said 
indenture, to the said orator's " grette labour and chaise." Sir 
Thomas Langton perceiving the parson to be content, sealed the 
said indenture, but when it was delivered to the said Kyghley 
that he might seal it as his deed, he refused to do so, and further, 
the said Richard declared that the said John should no longer 
enjoy the said lease, but should be ** put out from exercising the 
same." In answer to this Richard Kyghley declares that the 
defendant's bill is untrue, and denies that he, for the assurance of 
the said lease, promised to seal an indenture jointly with the 
patron of the said benefice, or that John Ketchyn, by reason of 
any such promise, made suit to Sir Thomas Langton, the said 
patron, for the sealing and delivery of such indenture. 

This is followed by another bill of complaint by Richard 
Kyghley, in which he recapitulates all that he had previously 
stated, and affirms that he made no promise to seal the said 
indenture, although importuned to do so by Sir Thomas Langton, 
John Ketchyn, and Robert Hatton. In answer to this, Sir 
Thomas Langton, knight, John Ketchyn and Robert Hatton 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 105 

state that when Sir Thomas Langton presented Richard Kyghley 
to the benefice of Wigan, it being necessary to obtain sureties 
for the first fruits, the said Robert Ilatton rode to London, and 
being unable to find any willing to become his security, agreed 
to take the responsibility upon himself together with John 
Ketchyn ; in consideration of which favour they aver that the 
complainant promised (as before stated) to give the said John a 
lease of the said parsonage for as long a term as he desired, but 
prevailed upon him to accept one for five years in the first 
instance.' A commission was according issued, bearing date 28th 
November, 32 Hen. VIII., 1540, and directed to Sir William Ley- 
lond, knight. Sir Alexander Ratcliff, knight, John Athcrton, 
Esq., and Andrew Barton, Esq., to enquire into the rights of the 
matter. 2 The commission directed them to examine certain 
witnesses as to whether Richard Kyghley, parson of VVigan, 
Thomas Langton, knight, Robert Gardyner, William Bradshagh, 
and Robert Hatton were at Newton on the Tuesday next after 
the Feast of the Purification. 30 Hen. VIII. (1538), in the house 
of one Charles Baxter ; also whether the said Sir Thomas com- 
manded his tenants or farmers not to sell any manner of 
" vytayll " to the servants or friends of the said Kyghley ; also 
whether the said Kyghley, his servants, farmers, tenants or 
friends had menaced or threatened the said Ketchyn or "other- 
wyse mysuscd hym with any suche braggery or ungentyll wordes 
or fascyon that the said Ketchyn durst not come thorowe the 
said town of Wigan onles he weyre fayne to r>'de with a grctter 
company of men then hys owne servants." But the real object 
of the enquiry was to ascertain whether the lease to Kytchen 
had been actually agreed upon or not. 

The Inquisition was held at Wigan on the 21st of April, 32 Hen. 
VIII. (1541);^ when the following witnesses were examined, 

* Duchy of Lancattcr Pleadings, 31 Hen. VIII., toL U. K. Na 3. 

• /«/. yi Hen. VIII.. Tol. Kviil K. Na I. 

> King Hen. VII. died on the a 1st of April, but the regnal year of Hen. VIII. was 
•ot reckoned to begin on that day but on 32nd April (Nicolas* Chr^ntl^gy,) 

P 



1 o6 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

namely on the part of Richard Kyghley: Charles Baxter of 
Newton, aged 47, charterer and tenant of Sir Thomas Langton ; 
Hugh Bradshawe of Bykurshawe, aged 36, charterer to the 
King; Mawd Styrroppe of Manchester, aged 26; Gilbert 
Hyndley, gentleman, aged 50, charterer to the King; Robert 
Bolton of Abram, gent, aged 73, charterer to Sir Thomas ; 
Henry Taylear of Wynwycke, aged 40, tenant to the parson of 
Wynwycke ; James Sherington, Mayor of Wigan, aged 42 ; and 
Henry Byrom, Esq., aged 37 : and, on behalf of John Ketchyn, 
Sir John Dunstere, priest at Newton Chapel, aged 31 ; Richard 
Grene of Wigan, aged 68 ; Thomas Maddocks, servant to Sir 
Thomas, aged 50 ; RaufTe Ryder of Newton, aged 38 ; Henry 
Dumbaven of Acton Grange, aged 50 ; David Pynnyngton of 
Halghton, aged 50 ; Richard Domvyle, household servant to Sir 
Thomas, aged 52 ; and Robert Lowe, aged 40. 

The Inquisition occupied some time; and after the examination 
of all the witnesses it was ordered by the Chancellef and council 
that Johanna Domvell and others of the parson's friends should 
continue at their pleasure in the parsonage until eight days after 
Christmas ; also that the parson of Wigan should occupy, until 
the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the bams and 
houses of the said parsonage where his corn and grain is stored, 
with liberty to thresh and carry away the same, as well as his 
beasts, cattle, fuel, and other things. It was further ordered that 
the said Ketchyn should occupy the mansion of the said parson- 
age until the 15th day after St. Michael the Archangel next 
coming, reserving two convenient chambers for the lodging of the 
parson and his servants, and one of the stables for the parson's 
geldings ; that the said Ketchyn and his assigns should take all 
such corn as he had sown upon the glebe or demesne land of the 
parson; that the said parson and his assigns should have all 
other tithe corn and g^in belonging to the said parsonage in the 
great barn of the said parsonage, and also that the said parson 
should take and have all other tithes and profits until the 15th 
day after the Feast of St Michael ; and then either party should 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 107 

stand to such further order therein as by the said Chancellor 
and council should be considered in that behalf. ' 

It would appear that the contending parties afterwards came 
to terms ; and Richard Kyghley, parson of Wigan, by an inden- 
ture bearing date nth February, 33 Hen. VIII (1542), demised 
the parsonage of Wigan and all tithes, &c., to the said John 
Ketchyn for a term of 30 years, at a rent oi £\QO per annum, 
payable to Kyghley and his successors. * But in this lease 
Kyghley reserved to himself and his successors, parsons of the 
Church of Wigan, a right of re-entry in case the rent, or any part 
of it, should be more than 40 days in arrear ; and as the parsonage 
house and lands and the tithes of the several townships were 
afterwards sub-let by Ketchyn to many different tenants for the 
remainder of his lease this clause gave rise to various complica- 
tions and disputes between the subsequent parsons and the 
respective sub-tenants under Ketchyn's leases. 

When Ketchyn had secured his new lease, to which he obtained 
the consent of the ordinary as well as that of the patron, he re- 
sold the next presentation to the church to Sir Richard Gresham, 
knight, citizen and alderman of Lx>ndon, and Thomas WTiite, 
citizen and merchant-tailor of the same, and their assigns, on the 
last day of February, 1542-3.3 He made a lease of a moiety of 
the tithe com, hay, hemp, and flax of the township of Billinge, 
parcel of the parsonage of Wigan, to William Gerrard for a term 
of 29 years, and a lease of the other moiety to Thomas Gerrard, 
Esq., for a similar term ; and then made over all his own estate 
and interest in the said parsonage to Sir Thomas Langton.^ 

In the meantime the care of the church was left entirely to 
the curate, and the affairs of the town became unsettled by 
reason of the absence of the lord of the manor. 



* Duchy of Laacmster Pleadingt, 32 Hen. VI 11., ^ol. uiTiii. K. Na 1. 

* r>uchy of Lanouter Plcadiogs, l Mary, vol tL S. Nu. 1. 
' CkisUr Diocaan Renter. 

« Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, I Mary, rol vL S. No. 1. 



1 08 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Sir Thomas Langton, who seems to have looked upon himself 
as the parson's representative, busied himself much with Wigan 
affairs. From the time of Kyghley's institution he had "laboured 
hard " to be appointed steward of the manor under the parson 
with a fee of £^ though as baron of Newton he was in theory 
his superior lord ; and when the parson refused to appoint him 
he took the office upon himself and, by himself or his deputy, 
acted as the parson's steward in the manorial courts. In this 
capacity he made himself obnoxious to the Corporation of Wigan 
by obstructing them in the exercise of the liberties which they 
claimed. In 31 Hen. VIII. (1539) a complaint was laid in the 
Duchy Court by the Mayor and burgesses of the town of Wigan, 
who say that they were accustomed to elect a Mayor yearly on 
the Saturday after Michaelmas Day, but that Sir Thomas Lang- 
ton, knight, and Thomas Gerrard of Brynne, Esq., being 
confederate with Robert Worseley, Esq., John Ketchyn, gent, 
John Langtre, Esq., Gilbert Assheton, gent, and others, riotously 
disturbed the said election, and encouraged the common people 
to do the same, so that the said Mayor and burgesses were not 
able to govern the said town, being in peril of their lives, and 
not daring to attend to their duties ; which said gentlemen, to- 
gether with more than forty other riotous persons armed with 
"swerds, buclers, staves, daggers, and other unlefuU wepons," 
came into the court house of the town when the Mayor and 
burgesses were electing the said Mayor, and having set themselves 
on the Bench, Sir Thomas commanded them that they should not 
elect a Mayor, and Thomas Gerrard said to Rauf Browne, one 
of the burgesses, " For all your packyng it shall not serve you." 
When they had departed, however, the election proceeded, and 
Adam Bankes was chosen to be Mayor. Sir Thomas Langton 
and his friends on several occasions openly declared that they 
would not take Bankes for Mayor, which was likely to cause great 
trouble and disturbance in the said town, but that the Mayor and 
burgesses with " all theyre wyttes and powers did circumspectly 
take hede thereof" Again, on the Sunday before the Feast of 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 109 

the Apostles Simon and Judc, the same gentlemen, with Thomas 
Hyton and Richard Stanley, and others to the number of 200, 
armed with warlike weapons, came to VVigan, and there divided 
themselves into companies to the " grette fere, trouble, and dis- 
turbance" of the King's subjects in Wigan ; whereupon the Mayor, 
accompanied by the bailiffs, sergeants, and officers went to the 
said gentlemen, showed them the King's Charter relating to such 
unlawful riots, and commanded them to disperse under a penalty 
of ;^ 100; to which command they paid no attention whatever. 
The Mayor therefore departed, and on his departure Gilbert 
Asheton exclaimed, "Yf the Meyrc come agayne here to give 
any more commandments he shall have hys hede full of buffetes ;*' 
after which, calling all their company together, they went to the 
church to mass, and from thence to the house of James Hyde, 
and notwithstanding that the Mayor caused a proclamation to 
be made at the Market Cross of the said town, they continued 
the said riot, and went from house to house " facyng and bragg- 
yng*' from 9 o'clock in the morning until 2 o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

"The names of the riotous persons whiche came to Wigan 
upon the Sonday next afore the fest of the Apostles Simon and 
Jude." 

Wm. Gerarde, gent. John Herte. 

Gilbert Assheton, gent Raufe Vance. 

Alexander Worscley, gent Raufe Nayler. 

Rich. Stanley, gent. Henry Gorse. 

John Gerarde, jun., gent John Nyghtgale. 

Thos. Taliour, gent. Adam VVhytyll. 

Adam Hyndley, gent Thurstan VValshc. 

Rich. Assheton, gent Raufe Culchett 

Thos. Hyton. gent Wm. Orell. 

Geffrey Byrchall. James Assheton. 

John Byrchall of Pembcrton. James Leche. 

Humphrey Nayler. Humphr. Locker. 



no History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 



Robt Gorse. 

John Byrchall of Assheton. 
Robt. Rasbothom. 
Gawan Atherton. 
John Sadon. 
Matth. Byrchall. 
Olyver OrelL 
James Whytyll. 
Thos. Hoghton. 
Oliver Eyes. 
Roger Hassyldeyne. 
Matth. Plat. 
Robt. Browne. 
Olyver Laythwayt 
Edw. Plat. 
Thos. S my the. 
Gilbert Hyndley, jun. 
John Hyndley. 
Robt. Lawe. 
Gilbert Lawe. 
Seth Downall. 
Raufe Taliour. 
John Nayler. 
Peres Wynstanley. 
Humphrey Wynstanley. 
Edm. Bury. 
Gilbert Ascroftc, 
James Lawe, jun. 
Nich. Leche. 
Robt. Straunge. 
John Assheton. 
Robt. Slynehed. 
and others to the number of 200 



Olyver Legh. 
Hugh Dyke. 
Thos. Grymshagh. 
Brian Molyneux. 
Hugh Assheton. 
Roger Kylner. 
Raufe Hyndley. 
Nich. Lawe. 
Huan Lawe. 
Humphr. Plat 
Alex. Worthyngton. 
James Higham. 
Edm. W)mstanley. 
Hugh Wakefelde. 
Wm. Wynstanley. 
Arthur Rylance. 
Humphr. Bury. 
James Molyneux, jun. 
Roger Raynford. 
Robt. Wynstanley. 
Lawrence Fayrclogh. 
Rich. Mershe. 
Bryan Fayrhurst. 
John Wynstanley, sen. 
Humphr. Orell. 
Hugh Barton. 
James Smethurst. 
Thos. Orell, jun. 
Laur. Cartwryght 
John Legh. 
Roger Fayrbrother. 
Robt. Rylance, 
persons and above. 



<« 



These be the riotouse persons of Wygan whiche accompanyed 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 1 1 

theymself withe Wm. Gerarde (Gerrard) and his company on the 
Sonday next afore the fest of the Apostles Symon & Jude." 

Robt Bullocke. Robt. Barowc. 

Gilbert Baron. Laur. Brokesmowthe. 

Gilbert Browkesmowthc. Rich. Shagh. 

A commission from the King, dated I2th November, 31 Hen. 
VIII. (1539) was given to Edward Earl of Derby, commanding 
him to hold a court for the purpose of enquiring into the said 
riot ; and a court was accordingly held on the following i6th 
December for the aforesaid purpose, recognizances having been 
taken that Lang^on, Gerrard, and others should keep the peace.' 

In giving his evidence. Sir Thomas Lang^on acknowledged 
that parson Kyghley had made no writing to him of the steward- 
ship of the manor, but he asserted that when he made him 
parson of Wigan about 5 years since, in that same year he had 
been content that he, the said Sir Thomas, should occupy the 
post of steward to the parson as he had done to others his pre- 
decessors before. He said "he never knew but that one, as a 
surmise may, hath occupied as Mayor of the said town, and in 
likewise a surmised servant hath occupied as his servant, and 
both without any authority to his knowledge." He also ac- 
knowledged that the same parson (Kyghley) did not command 
either him or the said Thomas Gerrard, his deputy, to come 
there (to the said election), but he says that he and the said 
Thomas Gerrard came as in the parson's right as his steward, and 
in the name of the parson required and desired Lawrence Sher- 
ington and others, inhabitants of Wigan, to be content to use 
their liberties, according to the grant, for lawful election. 

Thomas Gerrard said he believed that the election of the 
Mayor of Wigan belonged to the parson of Wigan or his steward- 

Leland, the Antiquary, whose travels throughout the country 
extended from about 1536 to 1542,* thus describes the town of 

' Duchy of L4mcaster Pleadingt, 31 lieo. VIII., n>L xzx. W. No. 2. 
* Folkard*! Journey round the Refiren€t Library (Wigan), p. 375. 



112 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Wigan at this period : " Wigan pavid, as bigge as Warington 
and better buildid. There is one Paroch Chirch amidde the 
Towne, summe Marchauntes, sum Artificers, sum Fermers. Mr. 
Bradeshau hath a place caullid Hawe a Myle from Wigan ; He 
hath founde moche Canel like se Coole in his Grounde very 
profitable to hym; and Gerade of Ynse dwellith in that Paroch."' 
The Wigan market at that time appears to have occupied a 
different position to that which it occupied until within the last 
few years, for he says **DugUs Ryver cumming by Wigan Market 
goith into the Se by hit self toward Latham."^ At this time 
there were but twelve parish churches in Darbyshire (West 
Derby), but they were large.3 Richard Kyghley, parson of 
Wigan, died in the year 1 543.^ 

On 8th August, 1543, John Herbert was presented to the 
parish church of Wigan, vacant by the death of Richard Kyghley, 

' Leland's Itinerary (vol. vii. fol. 56, by Thomas Heame), 3rd ed. Oxford* ^1^9% 
voL iii. p. 47. ■ IbU, p. 48. 

3 Ibid, In speaking of Liverpool he sa3r5 "Lyrpole, alias Lyrerpoole, a pavid 
Towne hath but a Chapel. Walton a iiii Miles of not fax from the Se is Paroche 
Chirche "; and he describes Warrington as a better market than Manchester (ib. p. 47). 

4 Kyghley's curate at this time was Sir Rauf Scott. The following names were 
returned at a visitation, shortly before Kyghley*s death, as serving in the parish of 
Wigan : I^ns Ractus Scotte^ cur^ conducf per dtCm Ric^um Kyghley^ reef ; I^ns Hen* 
ricus grange^ stipendaritis RobUi longton ; E^ns Hugo Cokson conducf per Thotmi^ 
gerrard armi^um; I^ns gilbUus aspulL (Piccope's MSS. z. lately altered to xiiL; 
Raines* MSS. vol. xxii). It will probably have been early in the year 1550 after the 
death of John Herbert, the next incumbent, that the following names of the Wigan clergy 
were returned at a visitation held by John [Birde] bishop of Chester ; Mr. . . . 
I^ns Radius StotU (Scotte), D^ns WUtus Astleye, E^ns Hugh Cokson canf, L^ns 
Joannes Gerrard^ Dns GilbUus aspull^ Dn^s Thomas Bame, D^ns Henricus Grange^ 
I^ns Mattheus Heye (Piccope and Raines' MSS. as before). Bishop John Birde, the 
first bishop of Chester, made his profession of obedience to the archbishop of York in 
1542, and was deprived by Queen Mary in 1554. The omission of a rector's name 
would seem to imply that the benefice was then vacant. Hugh Cokson paid his first 
fruits on his institution to the Bradshaw Chapel loth May, 36 Hen. VIII. (1544)1 of 
which chapel he was returned as chantry priest in 37 Henry VIII. (1545*6) when the 
chantries were suppressed and their revenues granted by parliament to the King. He 
was living and in receipt of a pension in 1553, but it is not likely that he woold be 
described as chantry priest at that time. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, \ 1 3 

the last incumbent, by Thomas White, citizen and merchant- 
tailor of the city of London, » having paid his first-fruits two 
days before into the Office of First-Fruits and Tenths.* He was 
instituted and admitted by John, bishop of Chester^ (probably on 
that or the following day). On 9th August he appointed John 

Grene and John to act as his proctors to take possession 

of the rectory of Wigan. ^ 

Shortly afterwards he had a contention with Ralph Bradshagh 
(or Bradshawe), Esq., then mayor of Wigan, and the burgesses 
thereof, for possession (inter alia) of the deed of John Maunsell, 
whereby he granted to the town of Wigan her liberties. This 
appears from a bill of complaint which was laid in the Duchy 
Court by William Fourde, mayor of Wigan, Adam Banke, 
Charles Lee and others, burgesses of Wigan, in 38 Hen. VIII. 
(1546), wherein they state that in the 3Sth year of the reign of 
Henry VIII. there was a contention between Ralph Bradshagh, 
at that time mayor of Wigan, and the burgesses of the same town, 
of the one part, and John Herbert, clerk, then and yet parson of 
Wigan, of the other part, concerning certain tithes and deeds re- 
lating to the liberties of the town, by one of which deeds John 
Maunsell, parson of the said town, granted to the burgesses all 
the rights and liberties of their said town, as they were by King 
Henry HI. granted unto him (the said Maunsell) and to his suc- 
cessors for ever : Maunsell to receive \2 pence from each burgess 

• Chester Diocesan Register. 

• Record Society (Lancashire and Cheshire), vol. viii. p. 408. 

' Presentaiio yok^is Harbrrt clerici ad rrctariam eccUsia parochialis tU liygan )- Prf 
untatus est yohannes Harhtrt clericus ad eccUsiam parochialem de Wyg;aH Cestrun, 
Dice, per mortem naturalem RieU Kuyghley clerici ultimi ineumbentis ejusdem foean, 
aJ presentationem Thoma M'kite cii-is et mercatoris scisiorum civitatis IjOtuion.(ratumi 
advocationis et assignatioms super hujusmodi factum ut superius patet pro Kae umiea 
viee pleno Jure spectan.)octa:i*o die mensis Augusti anno domini millesimo quingentesim^ 
quadragesimo tertio ae admissus et institutus est idem yohannes I/erhert in eamdem 
eeclesiam parochialem de M'ygan cum suis juribus et pertinentits umh'crsis per Reveren* 
dum in Christo patrem et dominum dominum yokannem permtssione Difina Cestriem. 
Epiuopum , , , dte mensis . . . anno domini predicto. (Chester Diocesan Register.) 

• Raines' AiSS., vol. xxii. being extracts from the Registers of Chester. 

Q 



1 1 4 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

yearly : which grant was ratified and confirmed by the bishop 
and patron of the church of Wigan. Ralph Bradshagh, having 
the said deed in his possession, refuses to give it up, although 
repeatedly applied to by the said complainant and others who 
have been mayors of Wigan before him. Ralph Bradshagh 
refuses to reply, but demands judgment and the dismissal of the 
bill.1 

It is stated that the town and parish of Wigan contained, in 
1548, 2,600 "houselynge people." ^ 

Sir Thomas Langton, knight, still retained the stewardship of 
the manor of Wigan, under the new rector, and apparently with 
no better warrant than before. In or about the year 38 Hen. VIII. 
(1346) he appointed Edward, Earl of Derby, his deputy, but after- 
wards refused to pay him the fees ; and in I Eliz. (1558-9) the Earl 
of Derby sues him in the Duchy Court for the same. He states 
that twelve years ago the defendant granted to him the office of 
the stewardship of Wigan (and Newton) with the profits and ad- 
vantages to the same belonging, in the same ample manner as 
William Gerrard, Esq., had had the office before, with a yearly 
fee of £1 6s. Sd, to be paid half-yearly on Christmas Day and 
St. John Baptist's day ; that he (Lord Derby) appointed Thomas 
Standish as his deputy for the space of two years ; that the said 
deed (the grant of the office of steward) came into the hands of 
Sir Thomas Langton, who has withheld the yearly fee for the space 
of nine years, notwithstanding that both deed and fee have been 
many times demanded of him. In answer to which Sir Thomas 
Langton cooly declares that " he made no grant or sufficient deed 
to the complainant of the office of stewardship " and " that he 
(Sir Thomas) was never seized of the said office!'^ 

John Herbert appears as rector in 1550,^ but the benefice 
became vacant by his deaths early in that year. 

* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings^ vol. xiv. W, No. 4. 

* Lancashire Chantries^ Chetham Tract, lix. p. 67 note {e libro B, Duch, Lane,) 
' Duehy of Lancaster Pleadings^ I Eliz. vol. i. D, No. I. 

* Raines* MSS. (extracts from the Register of Chester) voL xxii. p. 16. 
' Strype's Memorials (printed Oxford, 1822), voL iv. p. 260. 



History of i/ie Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 1 5 

In his time the borough of Wigan was again summoned to 
return two members to serve in the first parliament of King 
Edward VI. On the first institution of the House of Commons, 
or at least on the first return of members for boroughs, the four 
ancient boroughs of Lancashire, namely Lancaster, Preston, 
Wigan and Liverpool, were required to return two members 
each, those being the only towns in the county to which writs 
were addressed for that purpose in 23 Edw. I., 1295. « Wigan 
again returned two members in 35 Edw. I., 1307 ; after which 
no writs were addressed to our town to return members until the 
year i Edw. VI., 1547, when Alexander Barlowe, Esq., and 
Thomas Carne, Esq., were elected burgesses of parliament ; since 
which time Wigan has always been represented. 

John Standish, D.D., was the next rector. His institution 
is not recorded in the Diocesan Register, neither does his name 
occur in the Composition Books as having paid his first-fruits ; 
but Strype gives, amongst a collection of collations, presentations, 
grants, letters and licences, to men of the church or university 
in the time of Edward VI., a presentation from the King to 
the bishop of Chester to admit John Standish, D.D., to the par- 
sonage of Wigan, in his diocese, void by the death of Mr. 
Herbert, last incumbent ; dated March, 1550.* 

His connection with Wigan was of short duration. He must 
have resigned, or been deprived of his benefice, within twelve 
months of his appointment. But his career was a remarkable 
one, and worth recording in full as an illustration of the history 
of the times in which he lived. According to Anthony a Wood 
** John Standish was born of, and descended from, an ancient and 
genteel family of his name living in Lancashire, and at about 

' Of the next ensuing parliament of 24 Kdw. I. no returns have been found, nor are 
there full returns extant of that of 28 Edw. I. !Vf emhen for Wigan fio not appear in 
the fomewhat incomplete returns of the parliaments of 29, 30, and 33 Edw. I. ; aitd 
tbere are no returns for the county of I^ncaster of the parliament held in 34 Edw. I. 

• Strype $ Memotiais^ vol. iv. p. 260. 



1 1 6 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

fifteen years of age, in 1524, he was by the care of his unkle Dr. 
Henry Standish,' bishop of St. Asaph, sent to Brazennose College 
(Oxford), where making great proficiency in logic (he) was elected 
scholar or probationer-fellow of Cor. Chr. in January 1528, partly 
by the endeavours made in his behalf by one Mr. Ed. Standish, 
fellow of Brazennose (who was either his brother or uncle) and 
partly by the said doctor. After he was settled in that college 
he went through the usual classes of logic and philosophy with 
unwearied industry, became a most noted disputant, took the 
degrees in arts (and) holy orders, and drudging much in the 
faculty of divinity proceeded doctor therein, an. 1542, at which 
time he was one of the fellows of Whyttington college in London; 
and having a chamber in Brazennose, took commons there when 
he receded to the university for conversation with men and books."^ 
On 3rd December, 1543, he was admitted to the rectory of St. 
Andrew, Undershaft.^ " In the time of King Edward VI. he 
seemed to be a zealous reformer, was then made rector of Wygan 
in his own country, and took to him a wife, who lived not long 
with him, for when Queen Mary came to the crown they were 
separated."^ He was presented to a stall in Worcester cathedral, 
I2th July, 1550, and installed 2nd August following.5 

In June 1552, as one of the King's chaplains, he had a licence 
to enjoy his prebend in the church of Worcester as though he 
were resident f and in the same year he had another licence of 
non-residence granted to him (being then described as a pre- 
bendary in the church of Worcester and one of the King's 
ordinary chaplains), to have the said prebend, being in any other 



' Repertorium Ecclesiasticum^ folio, Lond. 1708, vol. i. p. 275. In Wood's y^M^ntf 
vol. i. p. 92 note, Henry Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, is said to have been of the 
ancient family of Standish oi Burgha in the county of Lancaster (Kennet); and in the 
text he is said to have left legacies to Ralph Standish, Lord of Standish in Lancashire, 
his near kinsman, to Agnes Worthington, his sister, and Will. Standish his natural 
brother. 

* Wood's Athena OxonUnses, ed. Bliss (181 8), vol. i. p. 235. 3 Ibid, 

* IM, 5 Le Neve's Fasti, * Strjrpe's Affmon'a/s, vol. iv. p. 27a 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 1 7 

of his promotions ; any constitution or Act of Parliament that is 
or shall be to the contrary notwithstanding ; dated at Christ's 
Church (where the King was then in his progress) 20th August, 
1552.* Le Neve gives the date of (Dr. Leonard Pollard) his suc- 
cessor's installation to this prebend as nth August, 1 551, and 
Standish's name does not occur again as holding the stall, so 
that it would seem as if the Royal licences took no effect As 
John Standish, S. T. P., he was admitted archdeacon of Col- 
chester loth January, 1552-3, at the presentation of Sir Edward 
North, knight, but his institution was obliterated a few days 
afterwards, and Hugh Weston, S.T.P., Dean of Westminster, was 
collated to the archdeaconry 22nd January, 1553-4 ^' per subdue- 
Hofum et obliterationem actus itistitutionis Standish!'^ From this 
it would appear that, whether in view of prospective changes 
when Princess Mary should accede to the throne or moved by 
other domestic causes, the reforming zeal of Standish was now 
on the wane. At any rate when Queen Mary came to the throne 
Standish was made vicar of Northall, 29th June, 1554 ; of which 
he seems to have been shortly aflcnvards deprived because he was 
a married man.^ It was, perhaps, at this time that he put away 
his wife, and bishop Bonner, for his affections to popery, collated 
him the same year to the rectory of Packlcsham in Essex.^ 

He does not seem to have prospered altogether even in Queen 
Mary's time, for at the metropolitical visitation of the diocese of 
Lincoln by the Cardinal Archbishop Pole in 1556, amongst the 
matters detected and exposed by John [White], bishop of Lincoln, 
were the following concerning John Standish, who appears to 
have been rector of Medbourne, in the county of Leicester, at 
that time : **Medburne Mansum, Matisum rectorie patitur mcuci- 
mam ruuuim, Fama publica est^ quod rector ibidem Dominus 

" Sti7p€*s Memorial s^ vol. iv. p. 272. 

• Lc Neve*s Fasti, 

* Wood*f Atkimt, The Author if nuher involved in this part of his account ; bat 
the true version is probably as I have stated it. 



1 1 8 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Johannes Standish, qui trahit ntoram Leicestrie^ est Symoniace 
promotus, Dominus Le Scrape, sive Dominus Le Conias^ sunt 
patroni Unde Dominus vocand, decrevit Necdum comparuit 
Ideo Dominus decrevit ultiorem processum, Et causa commissa 
est commissar io Leic,^ 

Dr. Standish was admitted to the stall of Ealdland in St. 
Paul's Cathedral on 2ist October, 1557, but was deprived soon 
afterwards and succeeded by Robert Willanton in 1557 or 1558, 
while Queen Mary was yet living ; from which it may be inferred, 
perhaps, that he was again preparing for a change. Willanton 
was succeeded by Dr. John Morwen in July, 1558 (5 and 6 Phil, 
and Mary) ; after whom Standish was restored by Queen Eliza- 
beth, and died possessed of it in 1570.2 In the meantime he had 
not altogether broken with Bishop Bonner, for on isth October, 
1558, shortly before the death of Queen Mary, being then styled 
prebendary of Ealdland, he was re-instated by bishop Bonner in 
the archdeaconry of Colchester, of which he was soon afterwards 
deprived again, on the accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne, 
and John Pulleyne was admitted 13th December, 1559, ^* adpre^ 
setUationem Regina*'^ He was evidently a regular time-server, 
and changed his views with the changes in the times. In the 
beginning of Queen Mary's reign he was very zealous in his 
endeavours to destroy the copies of the Bible which had been 
translated into the English language in the time of King Edward 
VI. and before. He bestirred himself so much in this matter that 
he found means to have it proposed in parliament that all such 
Bibles should be prohibited and burned. " This," says k Wood, 
"being very displeasing to many made him hateful in their 
eyes."* 

' Strype*s Memorials, vol. vi. p. 403. 

• Le Ncve*s Fastu ' Ibid. 

* Wood's Athena, J. Bale (in lib, de Scriptoribus Mag,, Britan, p. ill, ini, eeni^ 
12 and 13) speaks of him as one ** quern mapta pars populi pro mcrione et scurrA tem^ 
bat**; and he afterwards calls him "bestia** and "impostor." Another writer (if 
indeed he be not the same) speaks of him as : " Dr. Inkpot, and a blinking coxcomb. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 19 

Dr. Standish's known works, as given in Bohn's edition of 
Lowndes* manual, compared with the catalogue at the British 
Museum, were : 

(1) A lytle Treatise composyd by Johan Standysshc one of the 
Fellowes of Whytington CoUcdge in London^ againste the P rotes ta* 
cion of Robert Barnes at the Time of his deth, London in yEdibtis 
Rob. Redmain, 1540, 8vo. The said Robert Barnes was burned 
at Smithfield, 3 July, 32 Hen. VIII., 1540.* 

(2) A discourse wherein is debated whet/ur it be expedient that 
the Scripture should be in English for al men to reade that wylL 
This was first printed by Caley in 1554, and the 2nd edition with 
additions, by the same printer, Feb. 8, 1555, in Bodl., Svo. d. 28. 
Th. Seld.; and in Brit. Mus. This book is spoken of, in the 
catalogue of books in the British Museum printed before 1640, as 
having the author's initials subscribed at the end of the text. On 
the reverse of the same leaf is "A Prayer" in verse, the first 
letters of each line forming the words John Standish, Author. 



who married against his con<>ciencc (as he saith), more fit to be ma<le a riding fool 
than chaplain to a king.'* The expression occurs in an epistle to the reader prefixed 
to an edition of Stephen Gardiner's work : *'/> \'erd Ol*rdiennA ; an Oration made in 
Latine by the ryghte Reverend father in Got! Stcphan B. of NVinchestre . . . with 

the preface of E. Boner B. of London, touching true Obetlience . . . 

translated into English and printed by Michal Wood ; with the preface and conclusion 
of the traunslatour, Roane (Rouen) xxv of Octobre, 1553." Svo. G. 1 1993 (3) in Brit. 
Mus. The editor of the catalc^^e of Ikx>ks in Brit. Mus., printetl before 1640, calU 
M. Wood a psfudonym^ and attributes the authorship of another bcK>k, printed in hit 
name (.\dmonishion to the BivshojMrs of WinchcNtcr, London and others) at Roane in 
1553, to J. Bale, Bishop of Ossory. If this h*i so the Oration may aUo have been 
published by him. This, being the language of the zealous reformers, incite*! one 
of another opinion, who was after them in time, to characterize .*^tandish as ^*iir 
doctrind^ pittate, JLit et divitur gloria ulo fonsfnuus.*^ (Jo. I\ti. de tllustr. An^L 
Script, at. 16, num. 100 1 ). 

' Soon after came out a confutation of the said little treatise, entitled : A confuta- 
hen of that treiUisf which one John Standtsh made agaynst the Protestation of D. Barnes 
in thi year MDXL. , wherein the holy Scriptures (pertrrted and wrested in his said 
treatise) are restored to their owne true understanding agaynt by Afyles dn-erdale, 8ra, 
London, in Aidibus Elisabeth Fickerynge, 8vo., in Bodl. c. 46. TK Seld. and in Brit. 
Mus. 






1 20 History of the Church and Manor of Wtgan. 

The following extracts from this tract are curious as coming 
from the pen of one who had been a reformer, and as giving a 
character of Queen Mary very different from those we generally 
meet with : 

" Thankes be to Jesus Christe that by hys onelye myght and power, 
when it was paste all man's helpe, hathe delivered us from the devyll and 
the bondage of Pharao, and brought us furthe of darkenes of scismes 
and heresies into the cleere lighte of truethe agayne by sendynge us 
owre blessed queene Marye (even another Helena to brynge agayne the 
holye crosse) whiche even from her infancie hathe sticked faste and 
cleved surelye unto the sounde pyller of trueth (the Catholyke churche) 
whyche wyll never faile, she hath ever defended it to the uttennoste of 
her power. Lorde graunte her joyfuU deliveraunce of her most comfortable 
burthen. If among the heathen people the princes ever have ben greatly 
praised for vertue, how highly then is she worthy to be extolled above 
other for soo plentyfull and soo manifolde kindes of vertue and giftes of 
grace ? whiche doth not only excel in godlynesse, in devotion, in praier, 
in fasting, in abstinece, in humilitie, in charitie, in mercie, in pitie, in 
compassion, in discrecion, in knowledge, in wysedome, in excellencie of 
witte, beinge of no small studie in godly literature, but being of exquisite 
learninge, of profounde knowledge, and of exact judgement ; beside no- 
table diligence and great painfulnesse, even fro her childholde (as it is 
evidently seen) in her most godly innated zeale that she beareth styll 
moste earnest towarde the unitie and fayeth of Chryste's true religion, 
and towarde the chiefe head thereof under Chryst whyche by y* space 
of these xx yeares ever tyll shee came, was banished thys realm, through 
seism e and heresye, through covetousnes and letcherie. Lord be mercy- 
ful unto us." Sign. B. 3. 

The pious ejaculation at the end of this extract is not a 
little ridiculous to a modern reader, particularly when he hears 
that Standish turned reformer to marry a wife, and then became 
a papist to get rid of her again.i 

(3) The Triall of the Supremacy^ wfierein is set forth ye Vnitie 
of Chris tes Church, &c, London, by Thomas Marshc, 1556, 8vo. 
Dedicated to Cardinal Pole. 

« Wood's Athena, 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 2 1 

Whether the rectory of Wigan became vacant by the resigna- 
tion or deprivation of Standish in 1551 I am unable to say. 

Richard Smyth, the next rector, paid his first-fruits on nth 
February, 5 Edw. VI., 1551.' The parsonage, tithes, and other 
revenues were then in the seizin of those who held as sub-tenants 
under Kyghley's lease, the parsonage being at this time in the 
occupation of Sir Thomas Langton as sub-lessee of Ketchyn, and 
the tithes of Billinge in the hands of William Gerrard and John 
Winstanley. The rector, however, had a right of re-entry in 
the event of the covenanted rent being more than 40 days in 
arrear, and Smyth took advantage of Sir Thomas Langton*s de- 
fault to enter into possession of his mansion on 4th May, 155 1. 
Whether he retained it during the time of his incumbency, or 
whether, as is probable, he came to terms with Sir Thomas and 
allowed him to hold it for the remainder of the lease, is not clear. 
I should, however, suppose him to have been a non-resident 
rector from the fact that in the following year his curate, Ralph 
Scott, priest, (and not Smyth himself) in conjunction with the 
churchwardens, is party to the Indenture with the King's com- 
missioners on behalf of Wigan church for delivery of the church 
goods. 

From a mcfnorandum in the Diocesan Register, recording the 
presentation of his successor, it appears that within a few months 
after Smyth's institution, namely on 28th May, 1551, Sir Thomas 
Langton again sold the next presentation to the Elarl of Derby 
and others. 

' Record Society (Lancashire and Cheshire), vol. viii. p. 408. Perhaps this Richard 
Smyth may have been the same with the rector of Bury of that name, who would 
seem from the (bcfore-mentionc<l) pleadinj^ of Nicholxs Towneley the younger, in 
the Duchy Court, to have had some earlier interest in lands belonging to the parsonage 
of Wigan (see p. 97). He must not be confounded with his contemporary of the 
same name who is describetl in Wood's Athrn^r as the greatest pillar of the Roman 
Catholic cause in hU time ; which last Richard Smyth was one of the witncMcs 
against Archbishop Cranmer, who had been his great friend in the reign of King 
Edward VI. 

R 



122 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

The pecuniary difficulties of the Government of Edward VI. at 
this time led it to further acts of spoliation of church property. In 
the year 1552 commissions were issued ordering perfect inventories 
to be made of all manner of goods, plate, jewels, and ornaments 
belonging to any churches, chapels, fraternities, or guilds, together 
with the names of [persons who had been known to have acquired 
any of the property since the date of former inventories, with a 
view to their appropriation by the crown. The commissioners 
appointed for the hundred of West Derby were the Earl of Derby, 
Sir Thomas Gerard, knight, and Thomas Boteler, Esq. ; who 
visited the church of Wigan with its chapels of ease in October 
of that year, and when they had formally taken possession of all 
the church goods, they handed a portion of them back to the 
minister and churchwardens to be kept on the King's behalf, by 
virtue of the following indenture : 

"Wigan churche cu Holland Chapel & Billynge. This indenture 
made the iiij^** dai of October in the sixt yere of the Reigne of Ou'' 
Sou'aigne lord Edward the sixt by the grace of God Kinge of England 
Fraunce and Ireland defendo' of the faith and of the churche of England 
& Ireland in erthe the supreme hedde [1552] Betwene the right honor- 
able Edward Erie of Derby of the honorable order of the garter Knight 
Thomas Gerrarde Knight & Thomas Boteler esquier comissioners to 
ou** Sou'aigne lord the Kyng upon the behalf of his highnes of the one 
partie and Ser Rauf Scotte prieste Nycholas Lawe & Nye' Penyngton 
churche wardons of the parishe churche of Wigan in the hundreth of 
Westederby in the Countie of Lane' of the other partie Witnesithe that 
wher[as] the said comyssioners have delyv'it at the tyme of sealjrnge & 
delyv'ie hereof to the said churche wardons ti. to the said S*" Rauf 
fawre bells warof xij*> as thei alledge is yet unpaid one chalice vij 
coapes' j of grene silke ij of redde silke ij of whit twille & ij of yelowe 
silke X vestementes' of suche like silke & colo^ iiij tynacles^ thereof ij of 

' Cope ; a xx>be like a long cape or doak used at solemn vespers, processions, &c 
* Vestment, or chasuble ; originally a circular robe with an aperture at the top for 

the head ; being the special robe prescribed for the celebrant at the Holy CommonioD 

In the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. 
' Tunicle ; a robe with sleeves and open at the sides, prescribed in the first Prayer 

Book of Edward VI. for the ministers assisting at the Holy Communion. 



History of the Church attd Manor of Wigan. 1 23 

redde silke & ij of grene silke Itm at Holland Chapel ij belles a 
chalice & j olde vestement Itm at Billynge Chapel j littil belle; — 
belongynge to the said churche & chapels — saulfely to be kept to thuse of 
ou' Sou'aigne lord the Kyng. The said churche wardons as well as the 
said Sir Rauf for theym & their executors do covcfinte by these presents 
to and with the said commission's that the p'roisses or anie parte therof 
shall not at eny tyme hereaft' be alienated Irobecellid or otherwise put 
away from ou' said sou'aigne lord but shal be aunswarable & furth 
cumyng to thuse of his highnes at suche tyme & tjrmes as his Ma**« or 
his honorable counsaill shall deraaunde the same. In wytnes wherof the 
parties afToresaid to these p'sents ente^'chaungeablie have put their scales 
the day and yere above said. Incrm.' Mem. That ther is encresse of 
twoo bells one chalice & one olde vestemet at Holland chapell never 
put in any inventorie heretofoare." • 

It may here be stated that in the account of John Birde, bishop 
of Chester, giving the result of the enquiry made into the mis- 
appropriation of church ornaments, plate, bells &c., in his diocese, 
I2th January, 1548, it is said of Wigan that James Anderton and 
Robert Chaloner, the churchwardens, "had sold iij^ chales for 
viij" xviij* ix<*" which, they said, " was bestowed towardc the pay- 
ment off o^ bcllis bought off the Kyng.**^ 

In 7 Edw. VI., 1553, Richard Smyth, clerk, parson of the 
church of Wigan, complains that William Gerrard, of Asheton, 
Esq., and John Winstanley of Blackchurst,^ gent, with divers 
other riotous persons, did seize and take some of the tithe com 
and grain which the complainant's servants had loaded ready to 
be taken away, the said persons being armed with "bowcs, pytche 
forkes, and longc staves.** He (Richard Smyth) desires that a 
privy seal may be directed to William Gerrard, John Winstanley, 
John Marsh, Homeffray Colley, Rauf Harrison, and Thomas 
Knowle, commanding them to answer the said charge. In 

' loTeatories of goods in the churches and chapels taken in 1552 ; Q. R« Charcli 
foods, 6 Edw. Vr. 3/49. 

* Dom. Ser. Edw. VI., vol. iii. No. 4, quoted by Mr. Bailey in his Chctham 
Society's vol. on Inventories of Church Goods, 1552. 

> John Winstanley is afterwards styled of Blakcley, |^-ntlentan. 



1 24 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

answer to this, Winstanley states that Richard Kyghley, late 
parson of the church of Wigan, did lease the said parsonage to 
John Ketchyn, Esq., for and during a term of years yet ensuing, 
which said lease was afterwards lawfully confirmed, by virtue of 
which the said John Ketchyn entered the said parsonage and was 
lawfully possessed thereof. The said John Ketchyn granted to 
Sir Thomas Gerrard,' knight, and his assigns, the moiety of all 
the tithes of corn and grain within the town of Billinge for a 
certain term of years, and the said defendant, being the assign 
of the said Thomas Gerrard, considered that he had a right to 
take possession of the said corn, which he did in a lawful and 
peaceable manner. John Marsh and Thomas Knowle state that 
one half of the said tithes were demised to William Gerrard, 
and the other half to Sir Thomas Gerrard, knight, and his assigns, 
and they were instructed by John Winstanley and William Gerrard 
to carry away the said corn and grain.2 

The suit was renewed in the following year, i Mary, when 
Richard Smyth, clerk, parson of Wigan, lays a bill of complaint 
against William Gerrard, of Asheton in Makerfield, gentleman, 
John Winstanley of Blakeley, gentleman, John Marsh, of Billinge, 
yeoman, Humphrey Colley, of the same, yeoman, Lawrence 
Slynehed, of ... , husbandman, Ralph Harryson, of the 
same, husbandman, and Thomas Knowle, of the same, husband- 
man, for carrying away three loads of tithe oats and three loads 
of tithe barley belonging to the parsonage of Wigan, and for 
which they refuse to make any recompence. The answers of 
Lawrence Slynehed and Humphrey Colley are almost illegible ; 
William Gerrard gives a similar answer with respect to his por- 
tion of tithe as that which was given by John Winstanley the 
previous year. In answer to which Richard Smyth cites Kygh- 

' This Thomas Gerrard, who is styled Esq. in or about 1542-3 when he accepted 
the lease, and appears in 1553 as Sir Thomas Gerrard, I suppose to be the lord of 
Bryn and ancestor of the present Lord Gerard. He was High Sheriff of the county of 
Lancaster in 1553 and again in 1558. 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 7 Edw. VL vol. viii. S. No. 7. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 2 5 

ley's lease to Ketchyn of nth February, 1542, and his own re- 
entry into the parsonage with all its rights and profits in conse- 
quence of the non-payment of the half-year's rent of £^0, under 
K>^hley*s lease to Ketchyn, within 40 days after it became due. 
William Gerrard says that if the rent was not paid it was by 
fraud between the complainant and Sir Thomas Langton, in order 
that the grant might be forfeited, that the complainant has no 
right by law or conscience to take advantage of this to avoid any 
particular lease, and that his re-entry into the parsonage is 
unlawful. Richard Smyth replies that the surmise of fraud is 
untrue. And Queen Mary, who had now succeeded her brother 
Edward, issues her commission to enquire into the matter. 

At the Inquisition it was asked whether the said Smyth came to 
the parish church of Wigan on the 40th day next after the Feast 
of the Annunciation, in the 6th year of King Edward VI. (1552), 
and remained there all the same day till the sun was set, and 
then demanded jCso, being the half-year's rent for the parsonage, 
and whether John Ketchyn or any person for him was ready to 
pay the said sum; and it was sworn, on behalf of Richard Smyth, 
by Charles Leghe aged 58 years servant to Miles Gerrard Esq., 
William Astley priest chaplain and servant to Miles Gerrard Esq. 
aged 64, Richard Gerrard gentleman aged 40, James Sherington 
aged 55, Thomas Gerrard gentleman servant to Miles Gerrard 
aged 35, Gilbert liolcroft aged 39 tenant to Miles Gerrard, and 
Robert Whalley aged 40 tenant to William Forthe gentleman, 
that the said Smyth had demanded the rent at sunset on the 
40th diiy and it was not forthcoming. Robert Ilatton, aged 67, 
who said that he had been bailiff to Ketchyn for 10 years and 
received the issues and profits of the said parsonage to the use of 
Ketchyn, swore to the lease granted to William Gerrard, now 
defendant, of a moiety of the tithe corn, hay, hemp and flax of 
the township of Billinge (being parcel of the said parsonage) for 
a term of 29 years, and also to the lease of the other moiety to 
Thomas Gerrard, Esq., for the term aforesaid ; he further deposed 
that the said Thomas had made over his interest in the said 



1 26 History of the Church and Manor of IVigan. 

moiety to John Winstanley, now defendant ; that Ketchyn after- 
wards granted all his estate and interest in the said parsonage to 
Sir Thomas Langton, for which the said Sir Thomas paid 200 
marks ; that Edmund Burscowe was proctor or bailiff to the said 
Sir Thomas ; that on the 40th day Richard Smyth re-entered the 
parsonage of Wigan ; and that the said defendants did pay the 
rents due for the tithe \i,e. to Sir Thomas or his agent] 3 weeks 
or more before the re-entry into the said parsonage of Wigan. 
Sir Thomas Langton of Walton-in-le-Dale, aged 58 years, gives 
the same evidence as the last witness, cites the conditions of 
Kyghley's lease to Ketchyn, with the power of re-entry, and 
mentions that the said Ketchyn had at the time of the lease 
agreed with the said Kyghley to discharge him of charges for 
finding a curate to serve the said parsonage, which would amount 
to twenty nobles a year or thereabouts ; he denies, however, that 
he made Burscowe his deputy or gave him authority to receive 
the rents belonging to the said parsonage ; and says that he was 
in London at the time of the re-entry into the parsonage and did 
not know of the non-payment of rent ; that when he was at 
Newton Park with the said Sir Richard Smyth he offered him 
the rent due, and the said Smyth refused to take it anywhere but 
at Wigan ; that Burscowe offered the rent to the said Smyth the 
day after the expiration of the 40 days, and he refused to receive 
it ; and the said Burscowe said he would complain to Lord Derb}', 
upon which Smyth took the rent; that afterwards the said Smyth 
came to his (Langton*s) mansion and promised to make amends 
for his conduct, which " is yet to do." ' 

This suit concerning the tithes of Billinge was not determined 
until after the decease of parson Smyth, who died within little 
more than a year of the commencement of the suit. 

John Ketchyn seems to have sub-let the church lands as well 
as the tithes during the term of his lease, for one Oliver Halgh- 
ton of Wigan complains, in parson Smyth's time, that he was 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, i Mary, vol. tL S. No. i. 



History of the Church and Mafior of IVigan. 1 2 7 

lawfully possessed of two closes of arable land lying in an enclo- 
sure called •' the Ease," in the town of Wigan, together with the 
tithe of hemp, flax, and hay growing and remaining in the same 
town, for the term of 26 years not yet expired, by the lease of 
one John Kctchyn, Esq., to him made by an Indenture dated 6th 
March, 32 Henry VIII. (i 540-1). He was also possessed of one 
croft of land commonly called " the Checker " and one " frounte " 
called "the Mayster's croft" leased to him by Robert Hatton," 
the date of which lease was 6th April, 32 Hen. VIII. (1541); and 
his complaint is that one Richard Smyth, parson of the church 
of Wigan, together with William Hyde of Wigan, saddler, Hugh 
Pemberton, and divers other persons unknown, have at divers 
times riotously entered the said land and detained the said tithes 
amounting to the value of £/^ and do yet detain them, in the 
endeavour that the said Oliver, being a very poor man, may re- 
linquish his term and interest therein.^ 

Richard Smyth's tenure of the rectory of Wigan was a short 
one. If he was the same with the rector of Bury of that name 
he must have been an old man at the time of his admission to 
Wigan rectory, for Richard Smyth had already been rector of 
Bury for more than forty years.^ It is highly probable that he 

' Robert Hatton was bailitT uf Wigan umlcr Sir Thomas Ijington, ami the penon 
empluyed by parson Kyghlcy to ride up to I^jndon and make arrangements for the 
payment of his first-fruits, for which he became joint-security with Ketchyn ; so that 
it it not improbable that he alM> received a lea^sc of some of the church lands in con- 
sideration of his services. Not only the office of bailiflf was coveted in those days, but 
the stewardship or chief seneschalcy of the |>arM>n's manor seems to have tieen eagerly 
sought and accepted by the neighlx>uring gentry as a desirable piece of preferment 
which was pniliably held for life. In 1535 the stewardship was heM by Robert 
Langton, the under-stewardship by William Walton, who was al^ clerk of the |>arstm*s 
court, and the l>ailiwick by Rol>ert llattcm. In 1 551 .sir Thomas l^ngtun, the Lord 
of Newton and patron of the church was acting as chief steward, one liurscowe was 
then reputed to be the bailiff, and Thomas Gerranl, uf Uryn, Kv]., William Gerrard, 
and Edward, 3rd Karl of Derby, all acted in succession a<» deputy*steward> to Sir 
Thomas langton. 

* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings voL ix. (No date) Nf>. 6. 

s Baines {Lamcasktre, vol. i. p. 517) gives 2 1st October, 1507, as the date of Richard 
Smyth's institution to the rectory of Bury, where he built a chapel in the north aisle 



128 History of tlu Church and Manor of Wtgan. 

was the same as Richard Smyth who was instituted, on 27th 
September, 1548, to the vicarage of Sandbach, in Cheshire, which 
had become void by the resignation of Thomas Smyth." 

Richard Smyth, parson of Wigan, died early in 1554, and 
was succeeded by Richard Gerrard. 



Mr. Richard Gerrard, clerk, was presented to the parish 
church of Wigan, vacant by the death of Mr. Richard Smyth, 
the last incumbent, on 27th February, 1554, by Edward, Earl 
of Derby, Henry Lord Straunge, and others by virtue of the con- 
cession of Sir Thomas Langton, knight, the true patron. He was 
admitted and instituted to the same by George [Cotes] Lord 
Bishop of Chester, on 2nd March of the same year.* Richard 



of his church; but in 15 Hen. VIII. (1523) Thomas Boteler, Esq., the king's com* 
missioner for Lancashire and Cheshire, made a return to Sir lliomas More, chancellor 
of the Duchy of Lancaster, and to the King's council, that Richard Smyth, derke, 
was parson of the church of Bury by the nomination of the Earl of Derby ; that the 
parsonage was worth xl marks ; and that the said Richard had been incumbent by the 
space oihveniy years. In 18 Henry VIII. (1526-7) Richard Smyth, clerk, as parson 
of Bury church, proceeded against John Grenehalghe and others for assault and dis- 
turbance of church service (Calendar of Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, voL L p. 132). 
In 27 Hen. VIII. (1535-6) he was LL.B., and the Pope's pardoner in Lancashire 
(Chetham Tract lix. p. 113 ; Lancashire Chantries), He answered a visitation call as 
rector of Bury (about 1547), at which time his assistants, or curates of the chapels, 
were Z?'«j WilVus Marshall^ curaius^ and /?«'/ Rich^us Battersbye, {Inventories of 
Church Goods in 1552, Chetham Tract, cvii. p. 47.) 

' The patron of Sandbach for this turn was Richard Day of Leek, in the county of 
Stafford, by the grant of the Abbot and Convent of Dieulacres dated 3rd May, 1536, 
and signed by 13 members of the House. The Vicarage of Sandbach had become 
void by the death of the last incumbent before 20th April, 1554, on which day Peter 
Prestland was presented to this benefice. He paid his first fruits 9th May (Record 
Society, Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. viii. p. 396), and was instituted on 19th May 
in that year (Ormerod's Cheshire^ Helsby's cd., 1882, vol. iiu p. 105). This is strong 
presumptive evidence that the two Richard Smyths, whose livings became vacant about 
the same time, were one and the same person. 

" Chester Diocesan Register. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 1 29 

Gcrrard was a younger son of William Gerrard, of Ince, in the 
parish of Wigan, gent., and younger brother of Thomas Gerrard 
of the same place, and of James Gerrard of Astley, from whom 
the Lords Gerrard of Bromley in Staffordshire descended.' 

On 22nd October, 1522, a grant was made out presenting Ric 
Gerard, elk., to the church of Gropnall (Grappenhall) Gov. and 
Lich. Dioc., vice Simon Byron, elk., deceased, in the King's gift 
by the minority of Henry, son and heir of John Byron.^ He re- 
built or restored the church of Grappenhall in Cheshire in 1539, 
and his arms, azure, a lion rampant ermine, crowned or? may still 
be seen in some very old glass in one of the windows of the old 
rectory house therc.^ James Gcrrard of Astley (the second son 
of William Gerrard of Ince), in his will, printed by the Chctham 
Society,^ makes his " brother Ric. Gerrrard, pson of gropchall " 
one of his executors. 

In 33 Hen. VIII., 1542, Richard Gerrard was admitted parson 
of Bangor Monachorum, by reason that William Knight was 
made bishop of Bath and Wells, by presentation of the King, 
patron jure prerogatives f^ Gerrard's composition for tenths and 



* Sec Visitation of luima^hite by Willliam Flower, Chctham Tract xxxL p. lOI. 

• Del, Wcstm. 22 October, 12 Ilcn. VIII., Cal. p. 381 (as quotcfl by Rev. M. !!• 
Lcc, vicar of Hanmer, in the Palatini A'*// B^\^k, vol. ii. p. 212). 

• These were the arms of the orij;inal (icrrards of Ince. The same arms were in one 
of the painted glass windows in Wigan church in i590(.\rmorial Bearings in the churches 
of Prescot, Wigan, and Liverpool, by J. l\iul Kylands (iSSi), p. 4. ; from Harl, MS, 
2,129). The old (icrrards of Ince afterwards fell into {pecuniary difhculties and their 
lands were sold by Thomas Gcrrard, in the time of Charlc?. 1 1., to Col. Richard Gerrard, 
second son of Sir Thomas and brother of Sir William (ierrard of Hryn, knights; which 
Col. Richard Gerrard was cup-bearer to (^ueen Henrietta Maria, and die<i at Ince in 
1686. His arms, as given in a book plate in possession of his representative Humphrey 
Walmesley of \Vestwi>od, Esq., are quarterly, ist and 4th a saJtire, 2nd and Jrd a 
lian rampant f l)eing those of Gerrard of Bryn. 

♦ Armorial Bearings in the churches of Prescot, Wigan, and Liverpool (as before) 
p. 7. 

* New .Series, vol. iii. p. 6. The will is unfortunately much defaced, and the date 
is wanting. 

• Emral AfSS. (quoted by Rev. M. H. Lee, Palatine \Ue Back, vol. iL p. 313). 



ijo History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

first-fruits is dated 27th May, 33 Hen. VIIlJ In 1547 he was 
still rector of Grappenhall and parson of Bangor.^ He probably 
resigned Grappenhall on his acceptance of the richer benefice of 
Wigan, for he had been succeeded in the former by Peter Shaw, 
in 1556.3 

At Wigan Richard Gerrard inherited the lawsuit commenced 
by his predecessor concerning the tithes of Billinge. In i and 
2 Philip and Mary, 1555, as parson of the parish church of 
Wigan, he lodges his bill of complaint in the Di^chy Court, 
in which he recites the bill of the late Richard Smyth with 
the answers made to it ; and a commission, dated 28th June, 
I and 2 Philip and Mary (1555), was issued to Alexander 
Barlowe,^ Thomas Eccleston, and John Wrightington, Esquires, 
directing them to examine William Gerrard, John Winstanley 
and others touching the matter in variance between Richard 
Gerrard, clerk, parson of Wigan, plaintiff, and the said William 
Gerrard and others defendants.^ In January of the following 
year a decree was pronounced in favour of Sir Richard Gerrard, 
the parson, ordering that he should henceforth enjoy the said 
tithe corn and grain without let or interruption.^ 

Sir Richard Gerrard died in 1558, and was succeeded in the 
rectory by Thomas Stanley. 

From subsequent suits in the Duchy court it appears that 
William Gerrard, the defendant in the above-mentioned suit, 
became his administrator, being presumably one of his nearest of 
kin. I suppose this William Gerrard of Ashton in Makerfield 
to have been the second son of James Gerrard of Astley, and 

' Palatine Note Bock, vol. ii. p. 212. 

* Helsby's Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. i. p. 60a 

3 Ihid. 

4 Alexander Barlowe, Esq., was one of the members of parliament for Wigan at 
that time. There is a pedigree of the Barlowe &mily given in the Palatitu Note Book^ 
voL iv. p. 230. 

s Duchy of Lancaster pleadings, i and 2 Phil, and Mary, vol x. G. No. I. 

* Duchy of Lancaster Decrees and Orders, Hilary, I Elix., vol. xiL fo. 91, in which 
this Decree is cited. 



History of the Church and Manor of IVigan. 1 3 1 

so nephew to the late rector. He thus became i>ossessed of the 
rector's writings upon the strength of which he re-entered upon 
the tithes of Billinge, and retained them until his death, which 
took place shortly afterwards. 

Thomas Stanley, bishop of Sodor and Man (Sodoren 
Episcopus)^ was admitted and instituted to the rectory of Wigan, 
vacant by the death of the last incumbent (Richard Gcrrard), on 
9th August, 1558, having been presented thereto on 6th August 
by John fflctewood. Esq.. and Peter ffarington, Esq.. patrons for 
this turn by the deed of the true patron (Sir Thomas Langton, 
knight), dated on 10th May of the same year.' He had been 
consecrated bishop of Sodor and Man in 1 5 10, but was deprived 
in 1545 for refusing to comply with the Act of 33 Hen. VHL, 
which disconnected the sec from the Province of Canterbury and 
attached it to that of York.* On 4th March, 1 5 1 2-13 he was insti- 
tuted to the parish church of Hadsworth (St. Mary's) in the county 
of York, vacant by the death of Mr. James Harington, on the pre- 
sentation of Sir Edward Stanley, knight, one of the King's house- 
hold ; which benefice he resigned at the close of the year 1549.'* 

In May, 1528, he was collated to the prebend of Thorngate, 
in the Diocese of Lincoln.^ He was restored to his bishoprick 
by Queen Mary in 1556.S 

At the time of his admission to the rectory of Wigan he was 
bishop of Sodor and Man and rector of Winwick and North 
Meols, in the county of Lancaster, as also of Barwick All Saints 
in Elmct, in the county of York, having been admitted to 
Winwick on loth April. 1552, and to North Mcols on 23rd 
December. 1557 .-^ for the holding of all which with his bishop- 
rick it is said that he obtained the Pope's Hull.7 

• Chwlcr Diocesan Register. ■ Beamont'i History of Winxmck^ p. 30. 

' York Diocesan Rcgiitry. * \^ Ne%'e\ F*^stt ; Wood's Atkm^^ vol. iii. p. 807. 

' Le Neve's Fasti. * Raines* I^ncashirt^ vol. lii. p. 622, and vol. iv. p. 277. 

' Raines' AfSS., vol. xxii. p. 30 ; Tanner's Bi^'Iiotkrca Britanmuo- Uibfrnua^ p. 689. 
There is no record, in the York Diocesan Refn^^ryt ^^ his institution to Barwick in 
Elmet. though the institution of his predecessor is rrcnrded in 1 5 19, and that of hia 
Micceuor on the dtaik of the last incumbent oa 18 March, 1668 9. 



132 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

It has been stated that after the death of Richard Gerrard, the 
late rector, William Gerrard re-entered and kept possession of a 
portion of the tithes of Billinge, so that Bishop Stanley was obliged 
to renew his predecessor's suit against him to obtain possession ; 
and in i Elizabeth, 1558-9, we find him, as Thomas Stanley, 
bishop of Man and parson of Wigan, complaining in the Court of 
the Duchy of Lancaster that divers letters patent, deeds, evidences 
and writings concerning the manor of Wigan had casually come 
into the hands and possession of one William Gerrard, gent, 
being administrator of the goods and chattels of Richard Gerrard, 
clerk, late parson of Wigan, and although the said Stanley had 
sundry times required and demanded the same, the said William 
Gerrard had refused to give them up. Not knowing the certain 
number of these writings, nor whether contained in box or bag 
or in locked chest, he is without remedy by the due order of the 
common law to demand the said papers. He therefore entreats 
for a writ of injunction to the said Gerrard commanding him to 
deliver them up.' 

I presume that he recovered his writings and proceeded against 
the said William Gerrard, who seems to have died about this 
time ; for in Hilary Term of the same regnal year, i Eliz., 1559, 
a final decree was made in the following terms, with respect to 
the suit commenced by Richard Gerrard, clerk, rector of Wigan, 
against William Gerrard and John Winstanley: "Whereas in the 
term of St Hilary in the second and third years of the reigns of 
the late King Philip and Queen Mary late Queen of England 
deceased (1556), in the matter of the tithe corn and grain yearly 
arising and growing within the town of Billinge in the parish of 
Wigan, supposed to belong to the parson of Wigan, in the county 
of Lancaster ; it was ordered and decreed in this court that the 
said plaintiffand his assigns should from henceforth have, perceive, 
take, occupy, and enjoy, the said tithe corn and grain without let 
or interruption of the said defendant, as by the said decree more 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, I Eliz., vol. iii. S. No. 2. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 133 

plainly doth and may appear : It was this day moved by the 
counsell of the plaintiff to have an injunction against Sir Thomas 
Gcrrard, knight, concerning the performance of the tenor of the 
said decree, whereupon an injunction is this day awarded against 
the said Sir Thomas Gcrrard, that he, as executor, administrator 
or assign to the said William Gcrrard, shall not, upon the sight 
of the said injunction, have, occupy, and enjoy, the said tithe 
com and grain, but shall permit and suffer Sir Thomas Stanley, 
clerk, and his assigns, to occupy the premises and every parcel 
thereof without let, molestation, vexation, or trouble, of the said 
Sir Thomas Gcrrard or of any other person or persons by his 
means.*'* I presume that John Winstanley had not disputed the 
previous decree, and therefore he is not mentioned in the order. 

In I Eliz. Dr. Thomas Stanley, bishop of Man, was present at 
the funeral of Margaret, Countess of Derby (the EarFs second 
wife), who was buried at Ormskirk with great solemnity on 24th 
February, 1558 9. On that occasion the said bishop sang a 
solemn mass, having on him his ornaments and mitre.* 

In the following year, 2 Kliz., the Dean and Chapter of Lich- 
field complain in the Duchy Court that they have ''by all the 
time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary " been 
seized of a yearly rent of ;{^20 issuing out of the rectory or par- 
sonage of Wigan until the last two years in which Thomas "bishop 
of Sodor and parson of Wigan" has wrongfully detained the said 
sum. notwithstanding that the said complainants have made con- 
tinual suit for the same.-^ I have not found the record of any 
decree in this matter, but Stanley was doubtless made to pay 
the pension with the arrears. 

Bishop Stanlc> now began to look up his manorial rights, 
together with the tithes and rents belonging to the parsonage, all 
which had been considerably encroached upon, during Kyghley*s 
unfortunate lease, by the Mayor and burgesses of Wigan in the 

• Duchy of Lancaster Decrees and Ordop*. Hilary. I Kli/., fo. 9I, vol. xii. 

• Ijincashire Funeral Certificate*. Chetham Tract, lixv. p. 9. 
' Duchy of Lancaster IMeading^, 2 Eli/., vol. vi. I^ No. 7. 



134 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

one case and in the other by certain lessees of the tithes and 
sundry tenants at will. Some of these were irremediably lost, 
though more than one of Stanley's successors made vigorous 
efforts to recover them. 

During this half century, under the Tudor dynasty, a con- 
siderable change in the balance of power had taken place 
throughout the country. The wealth and power of the com- 
monalty had largely increased, and in borough towns the burghers 
had attained a stronger and more independent position, which 
enabled them to repudiate many of the old manorial rights as 
having become obsolete. This had been notably the case at 
Wigan, in more than one point, and it was doubtless the more 
easy of attainment for lack of a powerful hereditary lord who 
could constantly watch over his interests and enforce his lawful 
rights. At this time the right of holding the statute markets 
and fairs and periodical court-leets had been claimed and exercised 
by the Mayor and burgesses, together with the use of the Moot- 
hall. This usurpation of the parson's ancient privileges held 
under charters from the Crown, which had been frequently con- 
firmed and renewed, was challenged by parson Stanley, who in 
conjunction with Sir Thomas Langton, knight, the patron, laid 
a bill of complaint in the Duchy Court and asked for an official 
enquiry. A commission was accordingly issued in 2 Eliz. (1559- 
60) to make full enquiries into the matter.' 

The bill of Thomas Stanley, Bishop of Man and of the "Owte 
Isles** and parson of Wigan, and Sir Thomas Langton, knight, 
baron of Newton and patron of the said church, sheweth : 
That Thomas Stanley hath of right one "lete or law daye" 
usually held twice a year, and one Court of Record for all 
manner of pleas within the town of Wigan, for the preservation 
of justice, by force of certain letters patent granted unto his 
predecessors, by reason whereof Thomas Stanley appointed 
William Fleetwood, gent, steward general of the said church, 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 2 Eliz., vol. it S. No. 2. 



History of the Church and Manor oj Wigan, \ 35 

the duties of the office to be exercised by the said F*leetwood or 
his lawful deputy. Sir Thomas Langton, being Fleetwood's 
deputy, the [blank] day of [blank] last past, on going 
to the court to exercise the said duties was riotously in- 
terrupted, troubled, and disquieted by certain evil disposed 
persons, among whom were Richard Moore, Peter Marshe, 
Thomas Becke, Robert Penington, Rauflfe Turner, John Scotte, 
John Prescotte, Robert Prescotte, Thomas Barrowe, Richard 
Casson, Geoffrey Pilkington, John Fraunce, and Thomas Orrell, 
who have divers times since misused (and wrongfully imprisoned) 
James Henryson, William Straitbarell, and other servants of 
the said Stanley and Sir Thomas Langton, both by violence 
and threatenings, and certain of the said riotous persons refuse 
to appear at the said court to do their duties and service 
according to their tenure. 

The inquisition was taken at Westminster on the 28th of 
April, 3 Eliz. 1561, when Richard Moore of Wigan, yeoman, 
aged 50, John Scott of Wigan, yeoman, aged 55, and Geoffrey 
Pilkington, three of the defendants, appeared, and were exam- 
ined upon oath. They deposed that tlie parson of Wigan had 
had a " Leete or Lawe daye " and a Court of Record for all 
manner of pleas or matters in Wigan to their knowledge by 
the space of 20 years, and that the said deponents had done suit 
and service there until now of late they and divers others of the 
inhabitants had said nay to do any such suit or service, think- 
ing that of right the said bishop ought not to have or keep any 
such court or lect there. That they had no knowledge of 
Stanley's having appointed William Fleetwood to be his steward 
general of the same court, or of his having ever exercised the 
said office. They denied having troubled, vexed or disquieted 
the said Sir Thomas Langton when sitting in the said court, but 
they said that Richard Moore, being then Mayor of Wigan, had 
sat down by Sir Thomas to see that nothing was done to the 
prejudice of the town of Wigan or the liberties thereof, and John 
Scott deposed that when Sir Thomas was sitting in court and 



1 36 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

giving charge to enquire of bloodshed, the said Richard Moore 
had challenged his authority to do so unless it were drawn or 
shed within certain limits of time and place. They further de- 
posed that they did not know whether any of the inhabitants of 
Wigan ought of right to do any suit or service to the said parson's 
leet or to his three week's court, that most of them had done so, 
until now of late, to be and pass upon juries there, but that some 
had departed out of the court and would not be sworn, among 
whom were the said John Scott and Geoffrey Pilkington and 
others whose names they did not certainly remember. That 
James Henryson, servant of the bishop about the [blank] day 
of February last, did make an assault upon one Christopher 
Sweeting, and the said Richard Moore, being Mayor of Wigan, 
went to the place where the assault was committed and sent 
Henryson to prison ; but that on finding sureties for keeping the 
peace he was liberated; that about the [blank] day of August, 
being Sunday, when the parishioners were gathered together at 
divine service, William Straitbarell [mentioned in the bill of com- 
plaint as one of the bishop's servants who had been misused and 
falsely imprisoned] being accompanied by a number of persons 
and a *' mynstrell called a pyper " went through the said church 
to the Table whereupon the Communion is administered and did 
cause the said piper to play upon a "paire of graitt and lowde 
bagg-pypes," whereupon the said Mayor did "gently require the 
said piper to cease." That some time after the said Straitbarell 
came to the Mayor in Wigan and asked him " What he hadde to 
do to cause the said pyper to cease and leave hys playinge," and 
did then speak these words to the Mayor, " Thou art a very foole 
and more mete to be a swynnarde than a Mayor," with many 
other evil and opprobrious words. That the said Straitbarell was 
thereupon committed to prison, but upon his submission and ac- 
knowledgment of his offence was set at liberty. That they did 
not know that any attachment had been awarded against the said 
Richard Moore and others on the suit of the said bishop and Sir 
Thomas Langton, but had heard that such had been awarded and 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 37 

in the Sheriff's hands. That such attachment was not served 
upon the said Richard Moore or others. That they did not know 
that the Sheriff stayed the execution thereof from any friendship 
that he bore towards Moore and the others; nor that any money 
was given by Moore or others to stay the execution of the said 
process. That they did not know, but had heard it reported by 
others, that there was a privy seal served upon one Robert 
Pennington, at the suit of the same bishop and Sir Thomas 
Langton, and that the same Robert did break the same and cast 
the wax at the before mentioned William Straitbarrell. 

The deposition of Peter Marshc, Robert Pennington and Thomas 
Becke agrees with that of the three former defendants. Thomas 
Stanley and Sir Thomas Langton say in answer that James 
Harryson [Henryson] is bailiff in Wigan and that he had the said 
Sweeting in execution of a certain debt, and Sweeting "dyd flee 
from the sayd Harryson and wolde have escaped owte of 
execution, and thereupon the sayd Ilarrj-son did frcshelye hym 
pursue, and the sayd Sweeting dyd returnc agayne and draw hys 
dagger and dyd strykc at the sayd Harryson ; and that the blows 
struck by Harryson were in self defence. With regard to the 
other matter they say that a piper came to the church playing 
on his instrument before a bryde according to the uses of the 
country, that he did not make any disturbance, and that the said 
Straitbarell did neither procure him nor come with him." 

The defendants, in reply, deny that Harryson had an e.xecution 
against Sweeting, or did pursue, as stated by the complainants, 
but assaulted Sweeting unjustly and would doubtless have 
murdered him if some of the townspeople had not interfered. 
They declare all the statements made to be untrue.' There is 
no order or decree to be found with reference to this suit. It 
would seem, however, that it had the effect of bringing Bishop 
Stanley and his parishioners at Wigan to some undeistanding; 
for in this same year he confirmed to the burgesses of Wigan 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings 3 Elix., vol. viL S. No. 4. 



ijS History of the Church and Matior of Wigan. 

parson Maunsell's charter of freedom, by a charter of inspeximus 
dated at Wigan on loth October, 3 Eliz., 1561;* and from a 
subsequent lawsuit, held in parson Fleetwood's time, it would 
seem that Stanley troubled himself no more about the matter, 
but suffered the Mayor and burgesses to do as they pleased. 

In 5 Eliz., 1562-3, there was a lawsuit between Sir Thomas 
Langton and Sir Thomas Gerrard, knights, concerning the tithes 
of corn and grain in the township of Pemberton, which Langton 
claimed as the purchaser of a lease granted by Thomas Stanley, 
dated 22nd March, i Eliz., 1559, ^o Edmund Burscough and 
William Straitbarell for a term of years yet enduring, they paying 
a yearly sum for the same. He asserted that he had entered into 
the premises by virtue of an assignment of their lease made to him 
on 22nd April, 1 5 59, and was possessed thereof until he was ejected 
by Gerrard. Gerrard apparently claimed under Kyghley's lease to 
Ketchyn and under some arrangement alleged to have been made 
with parson Gerrard, that he (Thomas Gerrard) should have these 
tithes in recompence for the tithes of Billinge, of which he had been 
dispossessed. Langton thereupon pleaded Smyth's re-entry; which 
Gerrard denied, and said that long before the time of the alleged 
re-entry into the parsonage, Smyth had entered into a messuage 
or tenement in Wigan then or late in the tenure of William Hyde, 
and divers other messuages, parcel of the manor of Wigan, and 
had wrongfully kept possession of the same during the time that 
the said rent was accruing, on account of which he is said to have 
made his re-entry, so that he had forfeited the right to take 
advantage of the clause under which he re-entered.* 

In the same year, 5 Eliz., Thomas "bishop of Sodor and parson 
of Wigan" lays a complaint in the Duchy Court against William 
Orrell of Orrell, gentleman. His statement is that the said 
William Orrell, having gathered unto him about 40 persons, 
during harvest time and divers other times before and after, had 



■ Vide ante XI. ii. 

■ Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 5 Eliz., vol. xv. L. No. I. 



History oj the CImrcli and Manor of Wigan, 1 39 

assembled in the township of Orrell, in the parish of Wigan, and 
with force and arms carried away 20 loads of tithe corn of the 
value of 40 marks and more, and converted the same to his own 
use.' 

Again in the same year he lays a bill of complaint against 
Roger Bradshaghe of Haghe, Esquire, stating that he, with 
sundry other riotous persons to the number of 40, had carried 
away 80 loads of tithe corn and grain in the township of Haghe, 
in the parish of Wigan, to the value of £\o, and converted the 
same to his own use, although gently remonstrated with, and 
hath refused to make amends.^ 

In 1 564 Bishop Stanley, though he was then in possession of 
several rich benefices, was apparently residing in idleness at 
Durham. Pilkington, bishop of Durham, in a letter to the 
archbishop of Canterbury, gives a deplorable account of the 
clergy of the northern province at that date, and says : " The 
bishop of Man liveth here at ease and as merry as Pope Joan."^ 

In II Eliz., 1568-9, Thomas Stanley states in his bill of com- 
plaint that he is seized of and in two tithes, with the appurten- 
ances, called the tithe of the townships of Ince and Hindley, 
within the parish of Wigan. Ik^ng so seized, in August last past 
Miles Gerrard of Ince, I'lsv^uire, who had lent him one of his 
barns for storing the grain, died before the whole of the grain 
was carried, and at his death his son and heir, William Gerrard, 
agreed to carry and house the said grain and deliver the keys of 
the barn to the complainant. But when the corn was all carried 
the said William Gerrard refused so to deliver the keys.** 

Bishop Thomas Stanley died in 1 568, i.e. 1 568-9.'' The Earl of 

' Duchy of LancasttT l*lc.i.ling<. vol. xvi. S. No. i6. " />;*/., S. No. 17. 

* Uaines' lint, of LancaJiirf^ vol. iii. p. 100. 

* Duchy of I.anca-^tcr I*le.i<linj;^, 1 1 I'.lu., vol. \i. S. No. 5. 

* Le Neve's Fati ; Anlhony a Woti.l n.-.vn lii.il he p.iul ihe \.\>\ -khl of natnrr in !hc 
latter cnil of 1570, hut in lhi> he i> cerl;unly in err.»r. IIi^ •.luce-wir at H.irwick in 
Klmct, Mr. \Villi.im Power, .M.A., w.in ini>tilute.l i>n iSth M.uch, l5'>S-9, anil his 
successor at Wigan on 22nJ June, 1569, so that he pn.iliably ilic»i in March, i5r>S-9. 



1 40 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Derby calls him " his cousin," but his name does not occur in the 
family pedigree. He is said to have been an illegitimate son of 
Sir Edward Stanley, the first Lord Monteagle, of Hornby Castle,' 
in which case he will have been a brother, or half brother, of Dame 
Elizabeth the wife of Sir Thomas Langton, knight, the patron of 
Wigan church. 

Bishop Stanley was the writer of the " Rhyming Chronicle," 
a kind of history in verse of the Stanley family, continued to the 
year 1562, and his verses have been received by genealogists as 
the most authentic account of the family .2 He is described by 
Bishop Tanner as " Poeta haud contemnendusr^ He is said to 
have had in his possession a very ancient painting of the face of 
our Blessed Lord, which was taken by him to Douglas, in the Isle 
of Man, where it is still preserved.^ Mr. Beamont informs us 
that he was a bad steward to the rectory of Winwick, one of his 
preferments, for in 3 Eliz., 1 563, he granted to Sir Thomas Stanley, 



In his bishoprick of Sodor and Man he was succeeded by John Salisbury, Dean of 
Norwich. There is some discrepancy as to Ihe date of Salisbury's appointment. Rev. 
J. G. Gumming, editor of ** A Short Treatise on the Isle of Man " (voL x. of the 
Manx Society's publications, p. 77) gives it as 1569. Willis {Survey of Cathedrals^ 
vol. i. p. 367) says that Thomas Stanley died in 1568 [i.e, 1568-9) and gives the date 
of Salisbuiy's nomination as 27th March, 1569, but Le Neve gives it as 27th March, 
1570, which is probably the conect date. It appears that some question arose 
as to the right of nomination, and Queen Elizabeth, writing from (lorhambury, 
on the 29th September, 1570, to the archbishop of York, mentions the fact that 
the bishoprick had been for some time vacant by the natural death of Thomas Staiiley, 
and destitute of the episcopal consolation ; sbe informs him that the right of nominntioa 
notoriously belonged to the Earl of Derby, who had lawfully nominated, and pre- 
sented to her, John Salisbury, late suffragan of Thelford, who had already been con- 
secrated [as suffragan], and desired her to send her letters mandatory to the arch- 
bishop of York, to confirm the appointment, which she does accordingly. {Pat, 12 
Eliz. given in Monunienta de insuld Mannia^ Manx Society's publication, vol. ix. 

pp. 53-7.) 

* Piccope's MSS, in Chetham Lib. vol. numbered 7 and corrected to 10, p. 90 ; 

being taken from Dodsworth*s MSS, in Bodleian Lib. 

• Stanley Papers, part L (Chetham Tract xxix.) p. 16. 
s Bibliotheca BrUannico-Hibemicay p. 689. 

4 Journal of the Archaeological Institute, vol xxvii p. 190. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 4 1 

knight, second son of Edward, third Earl of Derby, a lease of 
the said rectory, parish church and benefice, with the manor, 
park, and glebe lands, for the term of 99 years, at a yearly rent 
of ;f 120;' and he seems to have done but little better for the 
rectory of Wigan. 

William Blackleach, whom I suppose to have been the 
next rector, paid his first fruits on 22nd June, 11 Eliz., 1569.2 

From certain pleadings in the Duchy Court in the time of the 
next rector it appears that Blackleach leased the tithes of the 
rectory of Wigan, for the term of his own incumbency, to Edmund 
Wynstanley and John Wodcocke and their assigns, who passed 
over their interest therein to John Assheton and Robert Worselcy, 
of the Boothcs, Esq.^ I learn nothing more of this rector, who 
resigned the benefice within two years of his appointment. 

Edward Flketwood was admitted and instituted on 8th 
February, 13 Eliz., 1571, to the parish church of Wigan, vacant 
by the resignation of the last incumbent, on the presentation of 
Queen Elizabeth by reason of the minority of Thomas Langton 
the patron.^ He paid his first fruits on the 12th of the same 
month. 



• History of Wttnciik^ pp. 32, 1 1 4. 

■ Rcconl S<K:ic'ty (I«nnc.i>hirc aii<l Clu-Nhirc), v(»l. viii. p. 409. Tlicre was a family 
of the name of lUackU.ich {alias I>!ackU-<l{:;c) wonted at Li-yland at :his iktIimI. lUOiop 
Huan niacklcach (or Ilcskcth), Siaiikv's pn-dcvcssor in tiic M^hoprick of Man, is so\A 
to have been lioin at lU.K-kloach Ilall^ in the I<iriI.Nhip of I^ithom (Leyland?) ir. the 
county of Lancaster, anil to have In'cn thr eMcst »on of that hoii^c ( Raines* .l/.s^'., 
vol. vii., aheretl in |K*ncil to x., p. <>S, and laUdlcil on the side ** lXxl^w»>rth'» MSS.^ 
vol. 149 to vol. 161. I'inis") 

' Duchy of Lancaster I'le.idin^;^ 13 Kliz. vul. xlix. .\. No. 19. 

* Chester Dioce>an Rej;i>lcr. Thomas Lan^tun, then in his minority, was the snn 
of Leonard, 6lh sun of .sir Thi^nias Lan^ttm. knight, ami grandson anil luir of the 
said Sir Thomas. He >uccee«led his Krandfulur in II Ehz., iyi^). Ix-inj; then Svears 
of age. This htst haron of Newtiin of this name <U<i not aild to the lustre <>f his famdy. 
In the year 1589 he wa» concerned in a fatal affray at Lea Hall, when Mr. liui^htun 



142 History of t fie Church and Manor of Wigan. 

This rector was a younger son of Thomas Fleetwood, of the 
Vache, Esq., Treasurer of the Mint, and some time M.P. for the 
county of Bucks, by his second wife Bridget, daughter of Sir 
John Spring of Lavenham, in the county of Suffolk, knight, 
and nephew of John Fleetwood of Penwortham, who married 
the daughter of Sir Thomas Langton, knight.* Mrs. Bridget 
Fleetwood, his mother, was afterwards married to Sir Robert 
Wingfield of Leatheringham, in the county of Suffolk, knight, 
and was living in 1571 when her son became rector of Wigan.^ 
Edward Fleetwood, to whom Edward, Earl of Derby, was god- 
father,3 must have been very young when he was made rector 
of Wigan, for by inquisition taken at Lancaster on 26th March, 



was slain, and it is supposed that he made his peace with the family by ceding to them 
his manor and principal residence of Walton-in-le-dale, in the county of Lancaster. 
He was Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of James the First, and died 20th 
February, 1604-5, without issue, when his cousin Richard Fleetwood, eldest son of 
Thomas Fleetwood, succeeded as heir of entail under the will of his grandfather Sir 
Thomas Langton. Dodsworth preserves a record of the following tablet originally 
placed in Wigan Church, but which had then been removed to Duxbury : — 

** To oblivion 
And y« due [drie] bones of Sir Tho« Langton of y« Hon**'* order of y* Bathe Knt. Baron 
of Newton Mackersfeld y* last of his name and ye undoubted patron of this Church 
descended from a most ancient famous and farre renouned family of Langton of 
Leicestershire who some times were of great authority both in y« Church and Com- 
monwealth of this kingdome and for y* space of 300 yeares have flourished in this 
County. A gentleman y* many times tuggd w**» extremetyes and made warre ^*ith y« 
worst of misfortunes &c He departed this lief in y« citty of Westminster 20 Feby. 
1604 when he had lyved 44 yeres and lyes buried nere y^ high altar in St. Peter's 

Church adjoyning to the Abbay." 

In the inquisition taken four years af^er his death, that event is said to have happened 
at Newton {Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories ^ Chetham Tract li. p. 251. 
See also History of Langton^ by John Harwood Hill, pp. 19-23). 

' Priory of Penwortham, Chetham Tract xxx. p. liii. Mr. Thomas Fleetwood, who 
died 1st November, 1570, was buried in the church at Chalfont, St. Giles, in the 
county of Bucks. He died seised of the manor of Northbreke and a messuage called 
Rossal Grange, &c Arms ; per pale nebuUe azure and or, six martlets counter- 
changed, 

■ Bishop Bridgeman's Wigan Ledger. ' Ibid, 



History of tlie Church and Manor of Wigan. 143 

13 Eliz. 1571, on the death of the above-named Thomas Fleet- 
wood, Esq., Edmund F^leetwood, the eldest child of the first 
marriage, was found to be the said Thomas Fleetwood's heir, 
and 28 years of age and upwards, so that Edward, the 3rd son 
of the second marriage, could not have been more than 24 years 
of age at that time, unless his brother's age is much understated.* 
Canon Raines, however, calls Edward the fifth son of the said 
Thomas Fleetwood, and (probably following some old pedigree) 
says that he was born in 1534,^ which is highly improbable. 

Unlike most of his predecessors he had the merit of being a 
resident rector ; and as the property of his church had suffered 
much from the neglect of his predecessors he was involved in 
several lawsuits to obtain possession of his rights. In the first 
year of his incumbency he commenced a suit against the Lang- 
shaws to recover seizin of two ancient water mills, which are 
described as Walke mills,^ in the town of Wigan. In his bill of 
complaint he says that the evidences, writings and muniments 
concerning the said mills, proving his title to the same, have 
casually come into the hands of Hugh Langshaw, Gilbert Lang- 
shaw, and James Langshaw, who have entered the said mills, and 
put out the said Fleetwood, and refuse to deliver up the said 
deeds.^ 

Three years later, namely in 16 Eliz. (1573-4), Edward Fleet- 
wood makes further complaint that William Langshaw, Robert 
Pennington and Thomas Pennington, of Wigan, husbandmen, 
in August last past, with sundry other persons, did riotously 
assemble themselves together at Wigan, and '* then and there 
with force did enter into one walke myll beying buylded upon 
parcell of the said mannor and of right belonging to the .said 

' John Fleetwood of Penwortham (his uncle) by his will dated on 1st September, 
1585, ordained his "Irustie and wclbeloved cosyn Mr. Edward Flcelwoode, parson 
of Wigan," to l>e one of his executors (Ilulton's Priory of Penivoriham, p. Ivii.) 

■ Stanley Papers^ Chetham Tract xxxi. p. 1 68. 

3 Walke mills ; \l;imioxt\ [Dialect of South Lancashire^ p. 255) describes a walke 
mill as a fulling mill, i.e. a mill for fulling cloth or making it compact and firm. 

* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 13 Eliz. vol. li. F. No. 14. 



1 44 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

orator," and did expel and put out Robert Langeshaw and 
Robert Hasteley who occupied the same, threatening to beat and 
kill the said Edward Fleetwood or any who should enter the said 
premises. The said Fleetwood therefore is without any tenant 
to his great losse and hindrance, "which wilbe to the disinheritans 
of the seid orator and his successors, parsons there, for ever."* 

The answer of Hugh Langshaw, Gilbert Langshaw, and James 
Langshaw, given in i8 Eliz. (1575-6), is that the said bill is only 
devised of malice and " evill will " to put them (being poor men) 
to charges and expenses, by the special procurement of Peter 
Nelson, " being a greate enemye to James Langshaw, and havyng 
manye tymes sought hys utter undoinge as is manyfestlie knowen 
to all their neightbours." They declare the said title* to be 
determinable at the Common Law, at which court they pray the 
case may be tried. Hugh Langshaw says that he and all his 
ancestors have used and enjoyed a 4th part of one of the said 
water mills mentioned in the said bill, or such profit as amounted 
to the 4th part, paying to the parson of Wigan for the time being 
the 4th part of the rent of the said mill. Gilbert Langshaw says 
that he is seised of an estate of and in a 4th part of the other 
water mill by good and lawful conveyance in law. James Lang- 
shaw says that he is seised of and in one 3rd part of a 4th part 
of the last-mentioned water mill. The said defendants deny that 
the parson has any right to the said mills, or that they have in 
their possession any writings or deeds concerning them, and aver 
that they claim only that part to which they are justly entitled.* 

The answer of William Langshaw, given on 6th February, 
1583, was that the said mill had been erected and built "longe 
tyme since as he hath herd " by some of his ancestors, and that 
ever since he and his ancestors, and his and their assigns, have 
continued in the quiet occupation thereof : that about 7 years 
ago " controversie did growe " between the said defendant and 



' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 16 Eliz. vol. li F. No. 6. 
• Ibid,, 18 Elk. vol. Ivii. F. No. 4. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 145 

certain persons as to the occupation of the said mill, and, the 
same being committed to the hearing of Edmund Winstanleyt 
"'stuard " of the complainant, it was agreed that, in consideration 
of the sum of 40J. to the said Edmund in hand paid by the 
defendant, he should hold and enjoy the said mill during the 
time that the complainant should be parson of Wigan ; that the 
complainant fully agreed to this and appointed the defendant to 
make certain reparations on the said mill, which were done, to 
the value of 20 marks and above.' 

The only decrees or orders with reference to this case that I 
can find are the two following ; one of which was made in Trinity 
Term, 26 Eliz., 1584, in the matter of Edward Fleetwood, 
plaintifT, and Pennington and others, defendants, in which it is 
ordered that the said complainant may amend his bill as touch- 
ing the usual suggestion for the maintenance of the jurisdiction 
of this court only, and also it is ordered that, forasmuch as 
Thomas Pennington, one of the said defendants hath in his 
answer disclaimed to the mill in variance, he, the said Thomas 
Pennington and his assigns, shall forthwith depart from the pos- 
session and occupation of the same, and as touching Robert 
Pennington, one other of the defendants, against whom an attach- 
ment was heretofore awarded calling upon him to make answer 
to the same bill, but who hath made no such answer, it is further 
ordered that if he do not. either by dtdimus pottstatcm or other- 
wise, answer the said bill at or before Michaelmas next coming, 
then the said Robert to leave the occupation of the same mill 
until he shall have made a good and perfect answer to the said 
bill.' 

The other decree was given in Hilary Term, 27 Eliz.. February, 
1584-5, in the matter of Edward Fleetwood, plaintiff, versus 
Langshaw and others, defendants. Upon the hearing of the 



• Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, temp. Elij., vol. Ixxxv. F. No. y 

* Duchy of Lancaster Draft Decrees and Orders, Trinity s6 Eliz.. July, 1584, 
Diviiion 5 & 6. 



1 46 History of the Church and Manor of Wiga?t. 

matter on behalf of the plaintiff, in the absence of the defendants, 
it appeared to the Court that the plaintiff, in right of his church, 
is seised of the mill in controversy to him and his successors. It 
IS therefore ordered that Robert Pennington, one of the defend- 
ants, shall presently avoid the possession of the said mill, and 
quietly permit the plaintiff and his assigns to occupy and enjoy 
the same ; and if William Langshaw, another of the defendants, 
shall not before the third return of the next term show some 
good cause for his occupation of the said mill, then it is ordered 
that the plaintiff shall have the possession of such part and parts 
of the said mill as the said Langshaw now occupies ; the plaintiff 
to have such costs and charges as shall be assessed by this Court, 
provided that the said plaintiff shall give notice of this order to 
the said Langshaw at or before the beginning of the next term.* 
This last decree seems to have determined the suit in favour of 
the rector. 

Another bill of Edward Fleetwood, clerk, parson of Wigan, 
made in 18 Eliz., 1575-6, sets forth that whereas the said Fleet- 
wood now is, and his predecessors parsons there "of long tyme" 
have been, lawfully seised in his and their demesne, as of fee as 
in the right of their said church, of and in the manor and lordship 
of Wigan, with the appurtenances thereof, whereof one parcel of 
waste ground known by the name of Whelley Lane, containing 
twelve acres, and lying on the east part of a parcel of the said 
manor called the Scoles, is parcel, and so being seised hath taken 
the profits thereof to his own use ever since he was parson there, — 
of late certain deeds, evidences, charters and writings concerning 
the said premisses, and of right belonging to the said Fleetwood, 
have casually come into the possession of Charles Banke, Robert 
Astelcy, Raffe Fayrebrother, and Reynold Maudesley, who since 
Michaelmas last past have entered into the said waste ground 
"with force and wronge and thereof have by lyke force and 
wronge disseised and expulsed your seid Orator and [deprived 

' Duchy of Lancaster Draft Decrees, Hilary 27 Eliz. Dirision 5 & 6. 



History of tfu Church and Manor of \Vi<:;an. 147 

him] of the profittes thereof in digginge coale pyttes and taking 
coales' out of the same to a great value," and although the said 
Fleetwood hath sundry times ** most gently and frendly desyred" 
the said persons to deliver unto him the said deeds and to permit 
him to enter into and occupy the said ground, they refuse to do 
90^ and do still withhold the said writings, neither will they permit 
him to take the profit of the said lands but appropriate the same 
to their own use.^ 

This dispute remained unsettled for many years and at length 
resolved itself into a controversy between the rector and the 
bui^esses of Wigan for possession of the manorial rights. They 
were claimed by the burgesses as having been given to them by 
the charters of King Henry III. and parson Maunsell. Maunsell's 
deed had recently been confirmed by bishop Stanley, rector of 
Wigan, in 1561. and with a view to strengthening their claim it 
was enrolled in the court of chancery at the request of Charles 
Banke, Mayor, and the said burgesses, on 6th May. 27 Kliz., 

1585.3 

In the meantime Fleetwood had a lawsuit with Roger Brad- 
shawe (Bradshaigh) of Haigh, Ivsq., for the recovery of tithes in 
the township of Haigh. This suit commenced about the year 1 5183, 
though it is recorded under 29 Eliz. (1586-7). In his bill of com- 
plaint he says that he has been for twelve years seised as of fee of 
the rectory and parsonage of Wigan, and is lawfully entitled to 
have all the tithe corn and grain within the town or hamlet of the 
Haghc, otherwise Haie, in the parish of Wigan. That Roger 
Bradshawe of the Haghe, Ksq., and s«nne of his ancestors have 
been farmers or tenants at will of the said tithes to Kdward 
Fleetwood and his predecessors, and have paid rent for the same. 
The lease having expired, Roger Bradshawe has been accepted as 
tenant from year to year, but two years since the said Roger 



' This i« the first nunlinn I moot uilh f»f i» .il iK-inj; w.-rkul on the \Vtg.^n jjlrb*. 
■ Duchy of Lanca^trr I'lea.linijs iS Klii. vol. Ix \ . No. i. 
* / "ide dfiUt p. 1 1 . 



1 48 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

claimed the inheritance of the said tithes, and hath neglected to 
make due satisfaction for the same, but hath got together certain 
books of account and other writings belonging to the said Fleet- 
wood. In consequence of which Fleetwood discharged the said 
Bradshawe from the occupation of the said tithes and warned 
him to meddle no further with them. The said Bradshawe, how- 
ever, hath wrongfully taken the said tithes to his own use. In 
his answer Roger Bradshawe, Esq., defendant, denies all the 
statements made by the complainant ; and Fleetwood in his 
reply reiterates all he had formerly stated.* 

Since no decree can be found in this case I presume that the 
parties came to terms, and that Fleetwood recovered the tithes, 
which are still in the rector's possession. 

On 30th May, 1595, parson Fleetwood prefers a fresh bill in 
the Duchy court complaining of the usurpation of the burgesses 
and asking for a remedy. This document is unfortunately in 
very bad condition, and in many places illegible, but as it is a 
document of some importance in connection with the exercise of 
the manorial rights of the township of Wigan I shall here give as 
much of it as can now be deciphered : — 

" In moste humble wise complayninge, showeth unto your 
honor your supplyaunt and dayly orator Edward Fleetwood, 
parson of [Wiggan in the] countie of Lane', clerke, that whereas 
your said orator and all his predecessors, the late parsons of the 
said rectorie and parsonage, [by all the time whereof the] 
memory of man ys not to the contrary, have been seized in their 
demesne as of fee, as in the right of their church of [and in the 
mannor lordshipp or towne of Wiggan] in the said countie of 
Lane' with the appurtenances, and of and in all and singler the 

demesne lands and other the 

parcel of the said mannor lordshipp or towne of Wiggan, and 
also of and in certaine annuall rentes being rente service . . . 
tenementes and hereditaments sett iyinge and 

' Dachy of Lancaster Pleadings, 29 Elis. , voL ci. F. No. 2. 



History of tlie Church and Manor of Wigan, 149 

beinge within, and parcel! of, the said lordshipp manner and towne 

ofWig^n aforesaid the said mannor 

amounting to the some of twentie three poundes or verie ncare 

thereabout, and likewise also of and in 

. . . liberties profyttcsand appurtenances unto the said man- 
nor lordshipp and towne of Wiggan and other the said premises 

beinge rentes, suites, services, fran- 

chizes, liberties, profyttes and appurtenances, your said orator 

and all his predecessors the parsons of the said 

bene seised in right of their churche of Wiggan 

aforesaid and thereof have had seisin by the payment of the 

tenantes of the his 

and their verie tenentes and likewise also is and have been 
seised in their demesne as of fee, as in the right of their said 

[church], tencmentcs rentes and hereditaments 

sett lyinge and beinge in Wiggan aforesaid as parcel of the said 

lordshipp mannor or towne value 

of tenn poundes ; and whereas also your said orator and his 
predecessors, parsons of the said rectorie and parsonage of 

Wigan parcell of the said wastes 

and waste groundcs lyinge within and beinge parcell of the said 

mannor lordship and towne thereon and rented 

the same and have been seised and had full possession and 
seisin of such said rentes ; and whereas [>our said orator and all his 
predecessors the parsons] of the said rectory and parsonage, by all 
the tyme whereof the memory of man ys not to the contrary, have 
been seised in their demesne [as of fee, as in ri^ht of their church 
of Wigan aforesaid], of and in one great howse or huildinge 
standinge and beinge in Wiggan aforesaid commonly called the 

Moot hall of the said towne belonging unto 

the said mannor and rectory of Wiggan and wherein your said 
orator and all his predecessors the parsons of Wigan [and lords 
of the] said mannor lordshipp and towne of Wiggan have by 
all the tyme wherein the memory c^f man ys not to the con- 
trary kept whereunto all the freeholders 



150 History of the Church a7td Manor of Wigan, 

of the said manner lordshippe and towne of Wigan do owe 

suit and service ; and whereas of the 

said rectory and parsonage have from tyme to tyme and by all 
the tyme whereof the memory of man ys not to the contrary 

thereof unto them made, the cer- 

tentie whereof your said supplyaunt knoweth not for want of 

havynge of the said charter by 

mannor or towne of Wigan aforesaid kept courtes viz : as 
well courtes Baron from three weeks to three weekes whereunto 

all the f as aforesaid as also two 

courtes Leetes yearly for and within the said mannor lordshipp 
or towne of Wiggan aforesaid and also two fayres .... 

said mannor lordshipp or towne of Wiggan 

and have likewise also from tyme to tyme taken and had and 

used to take and [have] happeningc 

or chauncinge within the said mannor lordshipp or towne afore- 
said as parcell of incident or belonginge unto 

enjoyed divers other fraunchyses, liberties, privileges, 

commodities, appurtenances, emollmentes and hereditaments 

unto the said mannor by force 

of such said auncyent charters thereof amongst other the pre- 
misses and other thinges thereof unto them maid or els by 

prescription all other his predecessors, 

the parsons of the said rectory and parsonage lordes owners or 

inheritors thereof have from tyme to tyme 

profyttes, issues and commodities thereof 

coming to their and every of their ownc uses accordingly ; but 

nowe so it is if it may auncyent 

charters, scriptes, wrytinges, evidences, muniments and court 

rooles of right belonging unto your said orator and 

misses tytle in and 

unto the said premisses are now of late by usuall meanes come 
unto thandes, custodie and possession of [Francis Sherington 
Mayor of the] Burrowe of Wiggan aforesaid, William Lathwaite his 
Balyffe, William Leigh seriaunt, William Foore potter, Edmond 



History of the Chia'ch and Manor of Wigan, \ 5 1 

Ch[alenor] of the said towne and 

Myles Gerrard of Ince in the said countie of Lane' gent. . . . 

Maior and burgesses of the said towne to be lordes 

and owners of the said town and the burgesses of the same 

Burrowe wastes thereof and by 

pretence thereof, of their owne wronge and without any right or 

tytle or color of right or tytle so to do, 

. . . laste past improved dyvers parcells of the said comons 
and waste groundes late lyinge within the said mannor lordshipp 

or towne of Wigan bcinge erected 

and builded howses thereupon and have rented the same and 
have placed tenantes therein, and by color thereof the said 

howses, edifices and buildinges 

upon parcell of the soile and inheritaunce of your said supplyaunt 

in the right of his church 

. . . great annoyance of her Majesty's people and losse 
of your said orator ; and yet not so contented the said Maior 

and burgesses and wronge and 

by pretence and color of tytle as aforesaid have vewed and sur- 
veyed such said comons 

and wastes soile and ground of your said supplyaunt within the 
said lordshipp manor or towne of Wigan ........ 

. . . one Hugh Langshey by the assent of your said orator 

was in setting upp, erecting and buildinge uppon 

the said wastes of the said lordshipp 

manor or towne of Wiggan aforesaid to be pulled down and 

overthrowen by one Edmond 

Chalenor an alderman of the same, and have likewise unlaw- 
fully digged delved and made mynes for coolcs 

demesnes of the said mannor, lordshipp 

or town of Wigan without the assent of your said orator or of 

any the said thereof 

are made impassible and have likewise of their owne torte and 

wronge last paste taken 

and yet do take all such wayves and strayes as happen or chaunce 



152 History of tJu Church and Manor of Wigan. 

converted and taken and yet 

do convert and take to theire owne uses and behoof .... 

aforesaid and thereof do unlawfully deteine 

and keep the possession from your said orator 

of for and within the said manor lord- 

shipp or towne of Wigan aforesaid viz : 

as well much and greatly 

increased inhanced and rased the fees of the said 

and payable within the said court baron of the 

said lordshipp manor or towne of Wiggan 

have notwithstand- 

inge such great fees so by them taken as aforesaid used as 

oppressions and losses of her Majestie's poore subjects being 

sutors 

. . suffered your said orator being lord of the said mannor to 

answere in an action of debt of 2^. taken against 

him by one Thomas attorney 

nor any other his predecessors parsons of the 

said rectorie or parsonage have ever bene 

manor or towne of Wigan and of such courtes 

Baron ther kept and have in like manner in their owne name 
kept and within the said lord- 
shipp mannor or towne of Wigan which in right belongeth and 

hathe tyme owte of mynd of man 

courtes injuriously kept the said Maior and burgesses 

in their owne right and names afore said as well dyvers persons 

mannor or towne of Wigan 

and holdinge their landes and tenements of your said orator, as of 

his said [church] to pay unto your 

said orator certeine quite rentes have been encouraged to with- 

hould theire said rentes 

. . one William Foord alderman of the said towne or bur- 
rowe who hath withdrawen certeine free rentes .... 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 1 53 

. . . and in regard that the said courtes 

are kept by the said Maior and burgesses in their 

redresse nor otherwise cannot have any due 

remedie for many other injuries and wronges to 

wayes and other passages which do lye most fytt for your orator 

his use and purpose and by the which your said 

as aforesaid and by authoritie thereof have of their 

like tort and wronge directly against the lawes and statutes . . 
. . . your said orator his tenantes and pre- 
judicial! to the inheritance and right of your said orator and of 

the said stallages 

and taxes not only upon your said orator his said tenantes and 

of those that are 

intent and purpose to maintayne the excessive wages of the said 
Maior and his officers and accus- 
tomed in the said towne and yett all theis notwithstandinge 

make levies to impose 

taxes and stallages yet do not in any wise towne 

but contrariewise do very negligentlie or rather 

such an unreasonable rate of ale even in the deare 

drounkennes and idlenes and the 

service of God neglected 

to the revenewc of the said 

rectory and parsonage 

without any right or tytle so to do have kept the said fayres 

taken the toll of all the wayes with 

great extremitie not only of and 

also by force of dy vers other hard and extreme orders .... 
impoverishing of the poor inhabi- 
tants of the said and of the 

officers where with all th'inhabitantes of the said manor or towne 

ofWiggan hundreth at the least 

have made their humble suite to the said Maior and .... 

in verie extreme sorte aggravat 

their extreme dealinge whereupon 

X 



1 54 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

and his successors and also tendering the common good of the 

said towne his brethren tutching 

the matters of his right in the premisses and hath yielded him 

said Maior and burgesses 

wold in no wise concent but utterly refuse 

dealing with your said orator contrary to 

all lawe righte equitie beggaringeof 

the inhabitants of the same 

the watercourse of one water of 

their comon course and channell into his 

mil ne belonging unto and beingeparcell . . . 

many times in most gentle and 

frendlie likewise also 

William Lathwait, baliffe, William 

MylesGerrard of Incegentand 

. . . suffer your said orator and his undertenants .... 
thereof to take the rents,"* &c. 

The remainder of the membrane is so utterly disconnected and 
vague that it would be useless to attempt to transcribe it. 

It is probable that a commission was issued to enquire into the 
matter ; and the pretensions of the Mayor and burgesses may be 
guessed by the replication of Fleetwood to the answers of Francis 
Sherington and others. The case of the defendants will have 
been strengthened by several years' possession and by the in- 
fluence and authority of the aldermen, who, being hereditary 
burgesses as holding burgages within the town, had probably 
been chosen with a view to this controversy, and whose rank and 
position in the neighbourhood would have naturally had much 
weight with a local commission. The complainant's replication 
is as follows : 

" Whereas the defendants say that there are annually elected 
a Mayor, two bailiffs and sundry burgesses, for the town 
and borough of Wigan, the present aldermen being the Earl 

■ Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings [Eliz.] vol. cxxxiii. F. No, 8. 



History of the Ckuixh and Manor of Wigan, 155 

of Derby,' Sir Thomas Evcrard, knight, Thomas Holcrofte,^ 
John Atherton^ and Myles Gerrard,"* Esquires ;" complainant says 
that " altho' the town of Wigan be an ancient borough by force 
of some ancient charters granted by the Kings of the realm to 
the late parsons of Wigan, yet the said burgesses have not any 
grant whereby they may be enabled to have a Mayor to be head 
of their corporation, but that the same, with many other privi- 
leges by them challenged, are and have been for divers years 
used by mere usurpation, and that if any of the said honorable 
persons named have been, or are, aldermen it is of very late years, 
or done without due rite. 



* Henry Stanley, fourth Earl of Derby, who succeeded in 1572 and died in 1593. 
His wife Margaret was the daughter of Henry ClifTord, Earl of Cumberland, by 
Eleanor his wife, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary, sister to 
King Henry VIH., so that she was very nearly related to Queen Elizabeth. 

■ This Thomas Holcroft, Esq., was probably the son and heir of Sir Thomas Hol- 
ered, knight, grantee of the dissolved monastery of Vale Royal in Cheshire, and 
younger son of John Holcroft of Holcroft, in the county of Lancaster. The younger 
Thomas Holcroft was afterwards knighted by King James I., in the palace gardens at 
York, on Sunday the 17th of April, 1603 (Ormerod's Cheshire^ vol. ii. p. 75 ; Palatine 
Note Book, vol. ii. p. 164). There was another Thomas Holcroft living about this 
time, who was a younger son of Sir John Holcroft of Holcroft, knight, but this last 
Thomas Holcroft was a priest {Local Gleanings relating to Lancashire a fid Cheshire, 
vol. ii. p. 122). 

3 John Atherton of Athcrton, Esq. (son of Sir John Atherton, knight), who was 
sixteen years of age at the time of his father's death in 15 Eliz. By his first wifcf 
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Byron, knight, he was father of another John Ather- 
ton (Dugdale's Visitation of Lancashire)^ who is now represented by Lord Lilfordf 
owner of Atherton Hall. 

< Myles Gerrard of I nee, Esq., was the son and heir of William Gerrard of Ince, 
by his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Alexander Obbaldeston, of Osbaldeston, knight, and 
grandson of Myles Gerrard of Ince. The squire of Ince and alderman in question had 
been imprisoned as a popish recusant in 1593, and accused of harbouring divers 
seminary priests contrary to the statute. With this he was charged by Bell (a seminary 
priest who had turned informer). He was examined in April, 1593, by Dr. Goodman, 
Dean of Westminster, and said that he had frequented the church these seven years, 
but he had not received the communion ; he desired respite and conference therein, 
hoping that he should conform himself. He had never taken the oath of all^iance, 
but was willing to take it if it should be tendered (Strype's Annals, vol. vii. p. 262,) 



1 56 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

[And] whereas the defendants say that King Henry III., by 
his letters patent did grant unto John Mansell, then parson of 
Wigan, that the said town should be a free borough for ever, and 
did grant that the burgesses should have divers liberties and cus- 
toms to keep yearly courts and to have divers profits and com- 
modities within the said town, and that John Mansell by his 
deed gave and granted to the burgesses of Wigan, their heirs 
and assigns, that they should have their town free, and all cus- 
toms rights and privileges which the said replicant and his 
predecessors have and yet do retain from the defendants, 'and by 
the said deed did reserve unto him [John Mansell] and his 
successors certain yearly rents by him alleged to be given for all 
services, exactions and demands ; and that afterwards the said 
deed of John Mansell was confirmed by Robert Bannester, patron 
of the said rectory, and Roger then Bishop of Coventry, by virtue 
of which the predecessors of the said defendants were seised in 
their demesne as of fee of and in the town and borough of Wigan 
and the profits and liberties, neither the said Fleetwood nor his 
predecessors having any right to any part of the said borough ;" 
Fleetwood replies that the said burgesses "have no right by 
charter to keep the courts leet nor any other court claimed by 
him in his bill of complaint, — nor any right to the customs and 
liberties or other things by them alleged ; that the supposed 
grant was made to the burgesses of Wigan, their heirs and 
assigns, and not to their successors, and that the said grant is 
void because they have not proved that they had at any time 
been incorporated by the name of the burgesses of Wigan 
and so at the time of the said supposed grant there was not 
any such corporation, and if they then had a corporation incor- 
porated by the name of the Mayor, bailiffs, aldermen and 
burgesses of Wigan, as they pretended to have, the supposed 
grant was and is void in law, the corporation not being rightly 
named therein : also that the courts which were then kept were 
kept and used by the Stewards and bailiffs of the then parsons 
of Wigan, the said parsons being then and ever since lords and 



History of tJu Church and Manor of Wigan. 157 

owners of the lordship and manor of Wigan : that the charter 
granted to John Mansell by Henry 3rd, by which the town was 
made a free borough, was forfeited by a Quo WarantOy and that 
afterwards, by the grant of King Edward the 3rd, the same was 
renewed and confirmed unto the then parson of Wigan, with the 
limitation that the said parsons should enjoy the same ; which 
hath been the case until of late years the Mayor and burgesses 
of Wigan by reason of some grant or agreement given to them 
by Thomas Stanley late bishop of ... . have usurped the same." 
[The last part of the first membrane of this document is very 
faint]. The complainant denies that the Moot hall is the inherit- 
ance of the said burgesses or that they and their predecessors 
have lawfully kept "courtes Baron, courtes leetes, and other 
courts, fairs, [and] markets " and taken all " wayffs and strays " 
within the said town, or received the profits thereof except for 
the last 34 years, during which time they have wrongfully usurped 
the same : that the said defendants had no right to pull down a 
wall or building erected by Hugh Langeshawe upon the Wawk- 
milne green, nor to stay the building of any houses or erections 
upon the waste ground."' 

The suit resulted in a compromise, by which the Mayor and 
burgesses acquired certain rights which had formerly belonged 
to the parsons. The decree which was delivered in 39 Eliz., 
1596, is as follows, — It is ordered by the court that the said 
Mayor and burgesses and their successors shall and may from 
henceforth keep all such courts as by them and their predecessors 
have heretofore been usually kept only by themselves (except 
the leets) and take the profits thereof to their own uses ; and as 
touching the Icets that are to be kept there [at the Moot hall] 
the complainant may from time to time appoint some discreet 
man to sit as his steward with the Mayor and burgesses or their 
steward, and the profits of the leets to be equally divided be- 
tween the plaintiff and defendants. Touching the digging of 

* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadinpjs, 39 Eliz., vol. cxlviil. F. No. 9 [1596]. 



1 58 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

clay and stone, it is ordered that the defendants and their suc- 
cessors may dig clay and stone as they have used to do, saving 
that the ways are to be amended in as short time as convenient, 
and that the moat ' of the plaintiff shall be amended by the 
defendants if it have received any hurt. Touching the fairs and 
markets 2 and the profits of the same it is ordered that the same 
may or shall be kept and taken by the defendants and their 
successors, saving that as touching toll stallage and such like 
it is ordered that the said defendants and their successors shall 
not take any greater toll upon the tenants of the plaintiff than 
heretofore hath been accustomed, and a commission is this day 
awarded to Edward Challinor, now Mayor of Wigan, Richard 
Molyneux of Hawkeley, gentleman, John Wrightington, Esq., 
and William Leighe parson of Standishe, authorising them there- 
by to apportion such rents as are in arrear to the plaintiff, which 
being done the defendants have assented that all arrearage of 
such rents shall be satisfied to the plaintiff and to do their best 
for the quiet payment thereof hereafter. Dated 27th November, 
1596.3 

After this Fleetwood had several other lawsuits for the recovery 
of his lands and tithes. By a bill of i6th November, 1598, he 
complains that being seised, as parson of Wigan, of the manor 
of Wigan, with the rights and appurtenances thereof and of and 
in the demesne lands of the said manor (of which one close or 
meadow ground near the town of Wigan is part) and of divers 
messuages, burgages, shops, lands and tenements situate in Wigan 
as belonging to the said manor, and of one messuage with appur- 
tenances in Wigan of the yearly value of 3cxr., and of one butcher's 
shop under the Moot hall of the yearly rent of 5J. now or late in 
the tenure of James Hyde, — the said James Hyde, Roger Ryecroft 

' There was formerly a moat round the old Hall at Wigan, which was only filled up 
about the beginning of the present century. 

* The decision affecting the markets and affairs was modified by another decision 
given about 20 years later. 

' Duchy of Lancaster Draft Decrees and Orders, 38 & 39 Eliz., vol xxi. fo. 700. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 59 

and others, having obtained possession of sundry charters and 
writings concerning the said close and messuage, have joined 
together to defraud the said Fleetwood of the rents and 
profits of the same and to disinherit him and his successors 
thereof. That in or about the nth of July, 1598, "armed, 
arayed and weaponed in very warlicke and outragious maner 
with swordes, daggers, long pykcd staves, billes, pitchforkes, and 
other engyncs and weapons as well invasyve as defcnsyve " they 
assembled at night near Wigan with the intent to carry away the 
said Fleetwood's hay, then newly mown and waiting to be re- 
moved, burst in sunder a certain gate and carried away the said 
hay amounting to 10 or 12 cartloads, to the house of Hyde, and 
did also assault and wound some of Fleetwood s servants, who 
were sent to stay their riotous behaviour, and caused the said 
servants to be hindered by the bailiffs. The said defendants still 
keep possession of the said meadow with the profits thereof, con- 
trary to all right and equity. 

In his answer James Hyde says that he and his ancestors have 
been tenants of the said messuage and land for 80 years and 
more. About 18 years ago the defendant's father arranged a 
marriage between Katherine, daughter of Thurstan Pemberton, 
and the said defendant, and the said Pemberton desiring to know 
the position of his intended son-in-law went to Fleetwood to 
enquire whether the said James Hyde should have the said mes- 
suage and land at his father's death, to which Fleetwood agreed, 
and the marriage took place. He declares that the hay was his 
by right, and that he took possession of it in a peaceable manner.' 

The other defendants also deny the charge of riot and unlawful 
assembly. Roger Ryecroft says that he has occupied *• two bayes 
of howsynge" and a garden as undertenant to James Hyde for 
ID years at a yearly rent of 8j., and James Kydde alias Ireland 
says that he has occupied a shop as undertenant to James Hyde 
and his father, the late William Hyde, for the space of 44 years 

' Duchy of Lancaster I*lca'ling««, 40 Klii., vol. exit. F. Na 14. 



1 60 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

at a yearly rent of 4J. Fleetwood repeats his charge against 
them, that they had violently and unlawfully broken into his 
fields and carried away his hay, illtreated his servants and pro- 
cured their wrongful arrest and imprisonment, that the said Hyde 
unlawfully kept possession of his meadow, and that he and other 
of the defendants had intruded into the possession of the mes- 
suage, tenement and shop mentioned in the bill, detaining the 
rent due for them, and had framed and contrived sundry 
leases and other conveyances to the prejudice of the complain- 
ant's rectory and church. * A commission was issued, but I find 
no decree in the matter, which was probably amicably arranged, 
as the " parson's meadow " (which appears from the after plead- 
ings to have been the close or meadow in question) is now held 
in demesne by the rector. 

There was also a complaint laid by Fleetwood in the Duchy 
court on 28th April, 1598, against Rauffe Worseley, gent, John 
Bankes, Thomas Snarte and Henry Bibby, for a riotous assault. 
There is no bill recorded, but Rauffe Worseley denies the charge 
of riot, and speaks of himself as one who was a " dutifuU comer to 
the churche, and a dutifull hearer of dyvine service, and so hath 
alwaies bene, and hath also moved and persuaded divers others to 
doe the lyke, whych have bene, and yett are, backe warde in religion, 
as he thinketh much the rather by reason of the neglecte and con- 
tempte of the complainant (Fleetwood) in not observing that 
forme and order of praier and admynistration of the Holye 
Sacraments whych ys, to this defendant's knowledge, appoynted 
by the boke of comon ^prayer." A commission was issued and a 
list of interrogatories drawn up to be administered to certain of 
the defendants, as to whether Robert Thompson,^ minister of 
Wigan, was assaulted by the said defendants, struck on the head 
with staves, otherwise illtreated and his hat knocked off, also as 



' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 41 Eliz., vol. cxlviU. F. Na 2. 
* Robert Thompson, the curate, must have been quite a young man, for on loth 
Jane, 1 601, he gave his age as 28. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 6 1 

to whether defendant Snarte called the said Thompson a " red- 
hedded knave," and said to him " Farewell and be hanged," or 
other such "disdainful speeches." ^ 

From the Book of orders and decrees 2 it transpires that the 
defendants did not appear in court in the following February 
when summoned to make answer to the charge, but it was offered 
on their behalf that they would personally appear there in the 
first return of the next term, when they would likewise be called 
upon to answer for their contempt of court, and John Bankes would 
also have to answer for having used contemptuous and opprobrious 
words to the plaintiff after the privy seal had been served upon him. 
They appeared accordingly at Easter, 1599, and were committed 
by the Chancellor to the custody of the Messenger of this court for 
their several contempts. At Michaelmas they had further respite 
granted to them to shew cause why the charge should not be 
heard and determined on the Sth February, 1600, after which 
there is no further mention of the suit, which was probably with- 
drawn on the parties coming to an amicable settlement. 

The last lawsuit in which I find parson Fleetwood engaged 
was one with the Earl of Derby for possession of the tithes of 
Dalton and Upholland. In this case the Earl of Derby was the 
plaintiff. It appears that the Earls of Derby had long held the 
tithes of the townships of Dalton and Upholland at a low rent, 
and now claimed the right to hold them in fee on payment of 
the said rent as a composition or modus. Fleetwood therefore 
commenced the dispute by sending his servants to carry off his 
tithes of corn and grain in kind. In his bill. Lord Derby asserts 
that he and his ancestors have been accustomed to pay unto the 
parsons of Wigan the sum of ;^I2 13^. 4^/. yearly in full satisfac- 
tion of the tithes of corn and grain growing within the towns, 
lordships, hamlets and fields of Holland and Dalton ; that Henry 
VII., by his letters patent bearing date 25th February, 4'*Henry 

' Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings [41 Eliz.], vol. xli. F. No. 15. 
* Duchy of Lancaster Draft Orders and Decrees, 39 & 40 Eliz., vol. xxii. fo. 428. 
Jbid^, Easter, 41 Eliz., fo. 491. Ibid.^ 41 & 42 Eliz., fo. 631. 

Y 



1 62 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

VII. (1488-9), granted to the complainant's ancestor, Thomas, 
Earl of Derby, the said manors, lordships and tithes, to him and 
his heirs. By virtue whereof the said Earl of Derby was of them 
lawfully seized as of fee tail. In the month of August last past, 
or thereabouts, Edward Fleetwood, clerk, parson of Wigan, hav- 
ing obtained possession of divers ancient writings testifying the 
continued use and occupation of the said tithes by the said com- 
plainant's ancestors, by force of the same called in question the 
validity of the said customs, and did confederate with Robert 
Thompson and other persons, endeavouring to obtain possession 
of the said tithes. During the months of August and September, 
in unlawful manner, they did break into and enter at different 
times the divers closes and parcels of ground in Dalton and 
Holland, being arrayed with swords and other weapons, and did 
carry away the corn and assault Christopher Robie, John Berrye 
and Ro.bert Byllinge, the complainant's officers for the gathering 
of the tithes.^ Fleetwood's case is that "whatever the com- 
plainant or his ancestors have enjoyed of the said tithes has been 
obtained at and by the special licence and consent of the said 
Fleetwood and his predecessors, parsons of Wigan, for a certain 
yearly rent, and that the late Earl of Derby did often acknow- 
ledge that he was tenant of the said tithes unto Fleetwood, with- 
out claiming any right of inheritance ; that the complainant and 
his ancestors have paid a yearly rent of £\2 13J. 4//. unto the 
parsons of Wigan for the said tithes." ^ 

The decree of the court, in the matter of William, Earl of Derby, 
plaintiff, and Edward Fleetwood and others, defendants, was 
given at Blaster, 43 Eliz., 1601, as follows : "Whereas upon the 
hearing of the matter in variance between the said parties 
and debating thereof in open court two several days by counsel 
learned of both parts, the last term before Mr. Baron Gierke and 
other her Majesty's commissioners of this court, it was ordered 



* Duchy of Lancaster Pleadings, 43 Eliz., vol. clxii. D. No. 4. 

* IbiJ., vol. civil. D. No. 3 & No. 8. 



History of t/u Church and Mattor of Wi^an, 1 6 j 

that if the said cause touching the tithes in controversy should 
not be compounded at or before the third return of this present 
term, that then the said defendants were dismissed unless the 
complainant shall show better matter than had been by him 
shewn ; and as touching the riots, forasmuch as the said com- 
plainant hath not shewn any better or other matter, neither is 
the cause compounded, as both parties do confess, therefore it is 
ordered that the said defendants as touching the tithes in con- 
troversy be henceforth dismissed, and as touching the riots, the 
same to be heard when the plaintifT shall call the defendants by 
process of this court ad audienduin judiciinny ' 

Though Lord Derby took nothing by his lawsuit against 
Fleetwood it does not appear that the latter ever recovered his 
tithes. The chief portion of the tithes of Upholland and Dalton 
are still held by the Earl of Derby's assigns, and the same modus 
q{ £\2 13J. 4//. is still paid, namely £'^ 8j. xoy^d. from Upholland 
and £^ 4^. 5 V2d. from Dalton, the portion tliat belongs to the 
rector besides this modus being, as I suppose, the small tithes of 
hay, &c. 

Parson Fleetwood lived at a time when religious differences 
ran high, especially in Lancashire, where parties were more 
evenly divided than they were in other parts of Kngland. He 
was himself a zealous reformer, and took an active part, as a 
justice of the peace, against the Popish recusants, as they were 
called. 

The papal bull for the deposition of FJizabcth in 1570. declaring 
her an excommunicated heretic, and as such depriving her of 
her pretended title to the crown, had ser\'ed to bring out Eng- 
land's loyalty towards her, while the horrors of the butcheries of 
Alva the Spanish general in the Netherlands, and the massacre on 
St. Bartholomew's day, revived the memories of the bli)odshed of 
Mary's reign. These national sentiments greatly strengthened 
the hands of Elizabeth, and enabled her to enforce the act of 

' Duchy nf I.in.Mstcr lU.ifi Dccroo^ .ind <^I'1«t<, F.iMer, \\ F!i/ , \oI. xxiii. fn. yt^y 



164 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Uniformity in 1579. But while the country was quietly settling 
down to the reformed religion, the zeal of the seminary priests, 
who came over in 1576 from the college at Douay, stirred up 
many of the Roman Catholic gentry to resistance. By the bull 
of deposition Rome had set herself in the fore front of the Queen's 
enemies, and Elizabeth, accepting it as a declaration of war, 
naturally viewed the Douay priests, sent over by the pope, as 
his political emissaries. 

This will account for miich of the persecution that followed. 
The comparative toleration of the Roman Catholics during the 
early part of her reign had arisen partly from the sympathy and 
connivance of the gentry who acted as justices of the peace, and 
partly from the Queen's own impartiality. But the act of uni- 
formity placed the magistracy in the hands of the reformers ; and 
as Elizabeth passed from impartiality and indifference to suspi- 
cion, and from suspicion to alarm, she put less restraint upon 
the bigotry of those around her. » 

In 1580, when two thousand papal soldiers were sent over in 
five ships to Ireland to stir up the people to rebellion, Edward 
Fleetwood, rector of Wigan, John Caldwall, rector of Winwick, 
and John Asheton, rector of Middleton, three of the Lancashire 
clergy, were, on the 29th September, 1580, required by the Queen 
in Council to fit out each one light horseman by the 20th of 
October next following, for the service of the Queen in Ireland 
** to resiste certain foraine forces sent by the Pope and his con- 
federates." 2 

On 1st September, 1585, Mr. Fleetwood, M.A., parson of 
Wigan, with Mr. Leigh, B.D., parson of Standish, Mr. Welshe, 

the vicar of Blackburne, and Mr the vicar of Lancaster, 

were appointed by William Chaderton, bishop of Chester, to be 
moderators for the deanery of Amoundernesse, who were ordered 



' Green's History of the English People^ vol. it p. 407. 

* Peck's Desid. Cur,, vol. L p. 95, as quoted by Canon Raines in StanJfy Paprrs, 
part ii. (Chetham Tract xxxi.) p. 132 ; Baines* Lancashire, voL i. p. 535. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 6 5 

to hold their first exercise at Preston on the 4th Thursday in the 
month of February.' 

In January, 1586, Fleetwood was one of those ordered to pro- 
vide one horse with furniture, or else £2^ to enable such horse 
and furniture to be purchased on the Continent, for the expedi- 
tion to assist the Hollanders in the Low Countries against the 
Kingof Spain.2 in the same year he was one of the Lancashire 
Magistrates who signed the injunctions sent to churchwardens 
and constables to suppress the violation of the Lord's Day occa- 
sioned by wakes, fairs, bull-baitings, pipings and huntings in time 
of Divine Service, and ordered that not more than a penny 
should be charged for a quart of ale. -^ 

At this time men's minds were much exercised by the thought 
of a threatened Spanish invasion, and the seminary priests were 
very active in stirring up popular feeling in favour of the Spanish 
King. The popish recusants, therefore, and all who were believed 
to harbour the seminary priests, were closely watched, and Fleet- 
wood made himself particularly busy in this matter. 

It was deemed essential by those in authority, at this critical 
period, that the county magistracy should be sound and well 
affected towards the government ; and although the Karl of 
Derby did not conceive any material change to be necessar>', the 
lord treasurer, on the suggestion of liidward Fleetwood, rector 
of Wigan, and others, caused a new commission to be issued, 
in which the names of several fresh magistrates were introduced, 



• Str)'pc*s Annals^ vol iv. pp. 547, 548. The clerg\' who failetl to attrnd these 
exercises which were intended fi)r ** the furtherance of the gixxl procce< ling and course 
of religion," were to Ik.' lined heavily, acconltng to their degree. They were all to 
meet at 8 o'clock in the morning, and st) continue till 10. From 10 to 11 a siTmon 
was to be m-nle by one of the moderators on the same text nf .^cripturc which had 
been handled and treated of l>efore by the siH'akers anil \%riters. From 11 to 12 they 
were to take their repasts and refreshing. They were l<» meet again l>efore I ami so 
continue till 3, in March, .-Vptil, May, June, July and .\ugu>t : an<l till 2 in the months 
of Septcml»cr, Octolnrr and February. All the |H.*ople and the whulc congr<^atiun 
were to rcscirt to the .sermon, but none to the other exercise but the clergy. 

' Baines' Lanc.^ vol. i. p. 541. ^ IhiJ, vol. i. p. 550; vol iii. p. 543. 



1 66 History of tlu Church and Manor of Wigan. 

and a considerable number of those who were thought to be 
favourable to the recusants omitted.' 

It is clear that the newly commissioned justices entered upon 
their work with renovated vigour. Among the Harleian MSS. 
(cod. 360) at the British Museum are a number of original papers 
relating to " recusants and other religious criminals.*' One set 
of these papers record the names of such as were " detected for 
receiptinge of priests, seminaries, &c., in the countie of Lancaster." 
They are scheduled as having been pointed out by different in- 
formers — clergy, churchwardens and others ; and among them 
occurs the following record, " this appeareth by the pn^tm^*^ of 
the pson of Wigan. These Persons pn^ted (by greate and Comon 
fame and reporte) to be receiptor* of Priests hereafter named, v). 
Bell : Buxton : Mydleton. Alex : Gerrerde brother to Miles 
Gerrerde of Innce esquier ; James Foorde son to Alex Fourde of 
Swindley gent.; John Gardner brother to Robte Gardn*^ of AspuU 
gent; Alex: Markelande son ne to Mathewe mlkelandeof Wigan; 
Pilkington borne in Standishe pishe ; Worthington borne in the 
same Parishe ; Stopforth. ^ 

But the full result of this new commission may best be gathered 
from the following letter of Parson Fleetwood to the lord trea- 
surer (Burghley), which is dated from Wigan on 7th September, 
1587, and preserved by Strype.^ 

" RL honorable, 

Being by your special good favour made acquainted with your 
honourable action, concerning the placing and displacing of the justices 
of the peace in the county of Lancaster, I have thought it my part to 
advertise you of the sequel thereof : which [that] I might the more fully 
be able to do, I bestowed my attendance at the assizes, when I perceived 
in them that stand displaced no small indignation towards those whom 
they could any ways suspect to have been furtherers, or suppose to be 
favourers, of that honourable action. Wherewith also they presumed to 
possess the rt honorable the Earl of Derby, as of a matter of no small 

* Strypc's Annals^ vol. v. p. 702. • Baines* Lafuaskire, vol i. p. 543. 

» Annais, vol. vi. p. 488 ; from Cotton MSS. "Titus." b, 2. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 6 7 

dishonour unto him and deep discontentment Whereupon for the pre- 
sent time and place J thought good (myself remaining in some part of 
jealousy with them) in general to lay forth, as occasion served, in the 
pulpit to their faces, that which before I had more particularly delivered 
to your honour concerning the corrupt state of the whole country ; that 
every guilty conscience of them might gather up that which was due 
unto it. Whereof it pleased my lords the judges to take so good notice, 
that they delivered the chief points thereof after to the juries in charge, 
and the same also more especially recommended to the justices of 
peace, to be in their continual service regarded. All which so nearly 
touched the guilty consciences of the discontented sorts, that they began, 
for the residue of the assizes, to pluck down their high looks, and some- 
what better to pacify their discontented minds, and to brook their 
emulated friends, than before they seemed to do. After which immedi- 
ately when matters were at the hottest, I also thought good to attend 
the rt. honourable, my very good lord the Earl of Derby, by way of 
accustomed duty, which I accordingly did ; thereby to give opportunity 
to his lordship of speech in the premised matters, and myself also to 
win occasion to lay forth that to his honour concerning the unsoundness 
of divers of his council, as might either fully satisfy his lordship, or at the 
least clearly justify your honour's most considerate action. But I ob- 
tained not one word of the premised matter, tho* I endeavoured to stir 
him up thereto by many words on my part uttered concerning your 
honour's direction of the ecclesiastical commission : whereat he seemed to 
have great goo<l liking, and professed his best furtherance thereto. 
Wherefore, however, the discontented sort (the rather to countenance 
their discontented state) will seem to cast upon his lordship a prefixed 
purpose of discontented expostulation ; yet I am persuaded, when he 
shall come in presence with your honour, it will be wholly turned into an 
honourable request of a most dishonourable matter. Wherein that your 
honour should not be narrowly overtaken, as unfumishwi of sufficient 
intelligence, I have with all speed adrest these my letters to your honour, 
as soon as I understood of the Karl his sudden dejiarture towards the 
Court ; by which to give your honour to understand, that as our state 
standeth the satisfaction of his lordship's request, or rather of the 
suggestion of some evil instruments about him, shall l)reed not a little 
inconvenience to your honour, his honour their reformation that are 



i68 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

displaced (xiV), to the public service, and to the good estate of the sincere 
professors, both of the commission and of the whole country. For first 
it shall argue your honour's former action of insufficiency ; being indeed 
in all judgment of those that fear God among us most sincerely, dis- 
cretely, and fully to all good purposes accomplished, both for the 
sincere comfort of the faithful professors of the truth, and the rare dis- 
paragement of the adversaries thereof in our country. Then it shall not 
a little nourish in the Earl that humour of careless security in tolerating, 
and no ways soundly reforming, the notorious backwardness of the whole 
company in religion, and chief of the chiefest about him. In sum, it 
shall harden the discontented in their former state of unsoundness ; it 
shall drive the zelous gentlemen from the public service, and setde in 
the minds of all the true professors an utter despair of any good course 
of reformation hereafter to be taken in these parts, when they shall se 
your honour's first acts, and the same of so great impoirtance to their 
well doing, to receive so speedy and untimely an overthrow; and 
therby a main wall as it were of corrupt magistrates set up here at home 
among us, against all good directions of your honours hereafter to be 
made from above. 

These considerations, rt. honorable, have caused me to wish the E^l 
to want in this matter some part of his desire. Whom yet I honour 
many ways not unworthily : and so likewise many others, if such there 
be, that seek to have their private humours of singular sovereignty still 
nourished with public discommodity. Neither may your honour think 
that two, or but one more of his lordships counsil added (as it were but 
Mr. Halsall, or Mr. Farrington) to the commission, or Mr. Rigby of the 
quonim, shall work no great prejudice ; for one bad man among many, 
not all good, shall be able to do no small hurt Halsall is a lawyer, 
presented these last assizes as a recusant in some d^ee. Farrington 
is as cunning as he : not anything sounder in religion, tho* much more 
subtil to avoid the public note than he. Rigby is as cunning and un- 
sound as either, and as grossly to be detected therein as Halsal. All 
three of them as buisy contrivers of dangerous devices against the peace 
of the ministry, and free course of the Gospel, and direct proceding of 
justice, in all common opinion, as any that ever bore authority among 
us. If there were yet room for any more of his lordships counsil, it 
might rather be wisht that Mr. Tildesly or Mr. Scarsbrick, gentlemen of 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 69 

best note among the rest, for honest and upright dealing in civil matters. 
But much rather to be wisht that his honour would be persuaded to 
hold himself sufficiently contented with those three of his counsil and 
chief about him, which your honour hath already unrequested freely given 
to his lordship, namely, Sir Peter Lee, Sir Richard Sherbom, and Mr. 
Rigby, all three of the same affection of the rest : and yet Rigby as dis- 
contented, and as presumptuously using his speech against your honour's 
former proceedings, as any that remain wholly expulsed. But it may be 
that his honour, or some other, the rather to gain their purpose, shall 
bring in question the state of the present commission, in respect either 
of the whole body of the commissioners, or of the particular members 
therof. Wherefore I thought it also most expedient to lay forth unto 
your honour the sundry observations which I have made in this behalf. 
First for the whole body of the commissioners, they arc so apportionably 
allotted to the Shire, as our store of sound men would any way afford. 
Five, or four, or three justices at the least unto every hundrccl : by 
means wherof every hundred hath his sufficient magistracy within 
itself, and every (]uartcr sessions (entertaining the most oi them two 
hundreds) a competent number of justices, and the general assizes a full 
furnished bench of worshi)>ful gentlemen to countenance and attend that 
great and honourable service. Which appeared evidently in the ey of 
all men this late assizes, by the most plentiful concourse of all the gen- 
tlemen justices well atfected, from all parts of the shire: providing there- 
by that neither the common service, sj>crially laid upon them, should be 
disfumished of due attendance, nor the discontented sort should obtain 
any just occasion to argue your honour's direction of insufficiency, or 
them of any neglect of duty. Where they employed themselves so 
throughly in the cause of religion, that then en.sued a most plentiful 
detection of 600 recusants by oath presented ; as also the indictment of 
87 of them (as many as for the time could be preferred to the jury). 
And further a notification by oath of 2 1 vagrant priests usually received 
in I-Ancashire ; and 25 notorious houses of reccit for them. Such are 
the manifold commodities which we feel already of your honour's most 
sound direction. In res])ect wherof it is of all that desire reformation 
among us (as justice of her children) most confidently Justified. 

The only want in general is the want of sound gentlemen in most parts 
of the country, wherof (I assure myselQ they that promote the office 



1 70 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

against your honours direction will say little. Hereunto your honour 
conceived a most apt and necessary supply, namely, the attendances of 
the justices of Salford hundred at the quarterly sessions of other parts of 
the country worst affected. To which effect it is given out that your 
honour hath already sent down letters to the earl ; but, I fear me, his 
lordships absence, and the sinister emulation of some of his counsil, as, 
namely, of Mr. Farrington (as I certainly hear), will disappoint them of 
their due success. Wherefore it were good your honour's more especial 
letters were written to the gentlemen themselves, of whom I doubt not 
but they shall enjoy a most dutiful acceptance, and a most effectual re- 
gard to the great commodity of myself and others that dwell in the most 
desolate parts of the country, from all goodness and good men. Then 
for the particular gentlemen, by your honour's more particular direction 
assigned to this service ; as, namely, Mr. Warren and Mr. Talbot, most 
commodiously borrowed of the two countries next adjoyning; Mr. 
Banister and Mr. Hopwood, for their former most approved service put 
forward to the quorum ; Mr. Wrightington and Mr. Brodshaw, for the 
special benefit of the ministry most happily planted in the parts where 
they both dwel ; necessarily added ; Mr. Lancton, Mr. Eccleston, still 
retained in place, most disfumished of able men for that service \ there 
is no exception to be taken, either for their gentry, livings, affections in 
religion, good discretion, and well furnished experience for all parts of 
the services. And so I beseech your honour to rest most resolute upon 
my poor credit with your honour ; which I be easily able to uphold in 
this matter with your honour ; with the most plentiful testimony and 
censure of my brethren, the preachers of the country, and of the gentle- 
men best affected in the commission, if your honour require it of me. 

In the meantime I shall crave your honour to vouchsafe me your 
special letters unto them of encouragement and direction, by which they 
shall not a little be strengthned in the buisy charge they have in hand, 
for the suppressing of many ungodly enormities of the Sabbath, imposed 
upon them by my lords, the justices of assize, at the special instance of 
myself and some other of my brethren. Where I must not omit to 
signify unto your honour the special good countenance I enjoyed at their 
lordships hands ; being indeed the more favourably bestowed upon me, 
as upon special notice they had some way taken, and there openly 
professed, of your honours good favour towards me : whereupon, I 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 171 

suppose, your honour shall gather convenient occasion to make your 
honourable good liking of their effectual procedings this last assizes in 
the cause of religion to appear unto them. Wherby, no doubt, they 
shall receive no small encouragement to continue the same hereafter, to 
the great comfort of the true professors and faithful preachers. For the 
which I shall not cease to be thankful to the Lord, with all my brethren 
of the ministry, by which we shall enjoy a most sound means of thank- 
fulness to your honour. 

Concerning my procedings with the commission ecclesiastical I have, 
according to your honour's direction, wholly possest Mr. Soliciter there- 
with. And he further required of me and Mr. Goodman a full advertise- 
ment of our manifold enormities, which by mutual conference with all 
my brethren I have readily furnished ; and against the next week to 
attend the bishop and Mr. Solicitor by their appointment I fear nothing 
therein but my lord of Derby his discontinuance, lest it breed some 
inconvenient delays. But your honour's continual presence and ready 
mind shall work us, I trust in the Lord, a more speedy dispatch. 

Thus commending my humble duty to your honour, and your soul 
and spirit and body to the most comfortable presence of Christ's Spirit 
in you now and for ever, I humbly take my leave. From Wigan, the 
7th day of September, 1587. 

Your honour's most bounden in the Lord, 

Edward Fleetwoodde, pastor of Wigan.** 

The new commission of justices of the peace, to which this 
letter refers, was in addition to a commission ecclesiastical like- 
wise sent down, to be put in execution,' in which Fleetwood 
seems to have also had a hand. Canon Raines, who quotes from 
the Cotton MSS.,^ says that on the 5th of September (two days 
earlier than the previous letter) Fleetwood addressed a letter to 
Lord Burghley " touching the state of Lancashire," in which he 
complains of the recusants ; and, quoting from Baines,^ he adds, 
Fleetwood proposed that a new ecclesiastical commission should 
be issued, and that many of the lesser clergy and gentry from the 

■ Strypc's Annals^ vol. v. p. 702. 

• Stanley Papers, part 2 (Chclham Tract xxxi.) p. 168 ; Cotton .MSS. "Titut" 2. 

3 Daincs' Latuaihire, vol. iL p. 264. 



172 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan, 

several hundreds of the county should be included in it, which 
proposition was so offensive to the Bishop of Chester, Lord 
Strange, Sir Richard Sherburne and the aristocratic conclave 
assembling at Knowsley and Alport Lodge,' on the ground that 
individuals of higher rank would refuse to act with the new Com- 
missioners, that a remonstrance was sent to Lord Burghley, 
dated 22nd May, 1588, from Alport Lodge, which was, however, 
disregarded, and Mr. Fleetwood's advice preferred. 

Strype tells us that soon after writing this letter Fleetwood, 
whom he calls "this active and worthy divine," was now about 
to accompany the Archbishop of York, and the solicitor and 
others to a sitting of the ecclesiastical commission for those parts, 
which abounded much with popish priests and Jesuits and such 
as harboured them. And for their better proceeding in this 
commission, the lord treasurer had sent instructions to the said 
rector, which he was to communicate to the rest.^ 

The sentiment of freedom, implanted in the breast of every 
Englishman, and the anxiety which had been felt throughout the 
country while Philip was collecting forces for his long threatened 
invasion, threw religious controversy into the background for a 
while, and caused men of all religious views to vie with one another 
in furnishing ships and arms to repel the common enemy. The 
destruction of the proud Spanish Armada in 1588, in which the 
whole nation rejoiced, must have poured oil upon the troubled 
waters and caused a temporary diversion from the prosecution of 
religious rancour. But the respite was only for a short time. On 
30th October, 1592, we find the Earl of Derby, lord lieutenant of 
Lancashire, writing to the lords of the privy council concerning 
the papists in that county, and giving directions for dealing with 
them. He concludes his letter by praying their lordships to 
credit "Mr. Fleetwood, parson of Weegan, a discreet and painful 
labourer in the church of God, who can truly make known unto 



* Alport Lodge in Manchester was one of Lord Derby's Lancashire seats. 

* Strype*s Annals^ voL v. p. 704. 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan 1 73 

your lordships, upon demand, the state of this country and private 
affection of the most persons of account."' Fleetwood himself 
appears to have been the bearer of this epistle, for a copy of it is 
enclosed in a letter of the same date from the Earl of Derby to 
Sir Thomas Heneage, Vice-Chamberlain and Chancellor of the 
duchy of Lancaster, in which, after he had intimated its contents 
and his own ** intent to have the presumption of public and secret 
papists being temporizers suppressed,** he says, ** for any par- 
ticulars touching that sort of this county, this bearer, Mr. Fleet- 
wood, parson of VVeegan, a discreet and learned preacher, can 
inform you truly, whom you may belie ve.*'^ 

From the expression used by Fleetwood in one of his letters to 
Lord Burghley, in which he speaks of himself as dwelling in a 
desolate part of the county, ** from all goodness and good men," 
it would seem as if he had not carried his neighbours and 
parishioners at Wigan along with him in his political views. In- 
deed we know from a schedule of names given in 1590, in a 
**Vewe of y^ state of y^ countie Palatine of Lane, both for 
Religion and Civil Governmet,'* preserved among the State 
Papers,^ that most of the leading gentry in or near Wigan were 
either ill-aflfccted or indifferent to the reformed religion. Of Sir 
Thomas Gerrarde of the Brynne, knight, Thomas Langton, 
baron of Newton. Myles Gerrarde of I nee, Esq., and Roger 
Bradshaw of Haigh. Esq., among the knights and esquires in 
the commission of the Peace, it is said that, though in some 
degree of conformitie, yet in general note they were of evil affec- 
tion in religion, were non-communicants, and the wives of most 
of them were recusants; and among the **gentlcmen of the better 
sorte" Edward Langton of Hyndley. in Wigan parish, was a 
" recusant and of such indicted." Roger Rigbic of Blacklcyhurst, 
John Ashton of Bamfurlong, senior, .... Ashton, his son and 
heir, Myles I nee of I nee, Rauffe Worscley of Pcmberton, Richard 



' Slryi>c'$ Annals, vol. vil. p. 183. ■ Ib%d^ p. 184. 

' Dom. Ser. Elix. toI. ccxxxiv. Na 4 ; quoted in Lydtatt Hall, p. 343. 



1 74 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

Molyneux of Hawkley, Rauffe Houghton of Kirckeleys, all in 
the parish of Wigan, were " comers to church, but no communi- 
cants, and their wives very little better than recusants." Only 
Robert Hyndley of Hyndley, Roger Bradshaw of Aspull, John 
Byllinge of Byllinge, and Will. Ashurst of Ashurst, among the 
parishioners of Wigan are described as being " soundly affected 
in religion." While it is said that all the ladies, widows and 
gentlewomen whose names are given, among whom are Annie 
Langton, wife of Thomas Langton, baron of Newton, and Johane 
Lethwet of Pemberton in Wigan parish, are recusants. 

Fleetwood's intolerance of the religious views of others will 
have doubtless made him many enemies. On one occasion the 
following abusive letter, written by some seminary priest or 
popish recusant, was thrown into his seat in church : — 

" I.H.S. — Edward Fletewood, parson of Wigane I heaire of yo' Invious 
Hereticall words againste our Feathe that I canot stay my pen from 
writing unto youe to commaunde you to leaffe blasfeminge againste thees 
our Catholike Feath or eles yo^ will drink of Joudas sope, moreover if 
yor hereticall mind will not be stayed againste or Feathe I most nide a 
counte yo^ woorse then the Rovinge Souldcerse that Persequted Christe 
for they would stint vntell the had Christ for to persequt him therfore I 
most nyde acount yo^ one of those becauc yo" will never stintt vntell 
that you hav persequted the poore Catholick. And Againe it is very on 
naturall a speretuall mae so to forswere him self* in so indetinge so many 
of yo*" town wiche ar as good Goers to the Churche as you ar therfore I 
most nide Acount yo" worse then Jou or turke or Infideile. I worse 
then A doupe thinge In so For swer Ringe yor selfe, I if tyme and plase 
did so Requer I could so proflf it therfor Reste w'** this and be contented 
and I will writt vnto yo** her After. G.C." Indorsed : " L're intercep- 
ted Pap." 

This letter is preserved in the Harieian MSS.,^ and en- 
titled "A strange libel thrown into the pew of the Rev. Edward 
Fleetwood, parson of Wigan, about 1596." From the marginal 

' Against this is written, in the margin, '* I was not sworn." 

* Harl. MSS,<t Codex 2S6, as quoted by Baines, Hist, Lane,, vol. iii. p. 543. 



History of the Church and Matter of Wigan. 175 

note it must have been preserved amongst Mr. Fleetwood's 
papers, or sent by him to the authorities in London. 

The town of Wigan at this period was progressing in civiliza- 
tion and its attendant luxuries ; and Holinshcd, in his Itinerary 
from Cockermouth to London, enumerates, amongst other places, 
Kendal, Burton, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan, and Warrington, 
where the inns were well furnished with " napierie, bedding, and 
tapisserie. Each commer," says he, ** is sure to lie in cleane 
sheets wherein no man hath been lodged since they came from 
the landresse. If the traveller haue an horse, his bed dooth cost 
him nothing, but if he go on foot he is sure to paie a penie for 
the same : but whether he be horsman or foote, if his chamber 
be once appointed, he may carie the kaic with him, as of his owne 
house, so long as he lodgeth there."' 

In 1590 there were 3,000 communicants at Wigan parish 
church, the parson, Edward Fleetwood, was "a preacher," as also 
was another minister whose name is not given. At the two 
chapels of Holland and Billinge there were no preachers.^ 

At the visitation of David Yale, LL.D., chancellor of the 
diocese of Chester, 19th September, 1598, the charge against the 
wardens of Billinge chapel is that the chapel was out of repair, 
that there were no books but a Bible of the largest volume. 
They had never levied the forfeiture of I2d. for ever>' one absent 
from the church service. There were no collectors for the poor. 
Very few received [the Holy Communion] thrice yearly, but 
warnings were generally given. The charge against the curate is, 
that he is ** no minister, but one licensed to rcade. Comp'uit, ct 
tolleratur, ct dimittitur'' The charge against the parishioners is, 
that they "cannot saie the catechism when they come to the 
communion and [there arc] manic that cannot say the creed, the 
Lord's prayer and ten commandments," 

As to Holland chapel in the parish of Wigan, the charge 
against the parish (or chapelry) itself is that there is no 

• Baines' Z<7«r., vol. L p. 578. • I.yJiatt Hall, p. 248. 



1 76 History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 

curate there, "though by Mr. Fleetwood's means they have never 
wanted service on the Sabbaoth daie." Against the wardens 
there it is charged that there are " no books but the Booke of 
Comon praier, and the Byble w^^ is ould and tome/' There is 
"a table, but an yll favored one, no comunion cup of silver ; no 
blacke coveringe for the Comunion Table ; no cheste, nor Boxe 
for the Poore. The surples [is] verie olde. One Mr. Mosse hath 
done service for the space of a moneth, but [is] not licensed. The 
catechisme [is] not used. Manie receive the communion that 
cannot saie the catechisme. The Register Book [is] of late years. 
The forfeiture of 12^ [was] not collected from the absent^ from 
church." 

There is a charge against Henry Sankie and William Mosse, 
clerks, " for playing at Tables' upon the Sabbaoth daie and, as it 
is thought, all the weeke longe." Mosse and Sankie appeared at 
the visitation, and the chancellor enjoined them that thereafter 
" they do not plaie att Tables, and because ytt appeareth they 
plaied uppon the Saboth daie and wel most too other daies " they 
are respited to the lord bishop. 

There is a charge against William Smallshaw^ of Holland 
** for speaking openlye in the church to the churchwardens theis 
words, * what [for] due you suffer yonder Red-headed fellow to 
bee in the pulpitt or to saie service w^^out a surplus, to the great 

' The game "at Tables** is now better known by the name of Backgammon. In 
Latin it is called Tabularum ludus^ and in French Tables, It was a very common 
amusement at the commencement of the last century, and pursued at leisure times by 
most people of opulence, especially by the clergy, which occasioned Dean Swift, when 
writing to a friend of his in the country, sarcastically to ask the following question : 
" In what esteem are you with the vicar of the parish ; can you play with him at back' 
gammon ?" (Stnitt*s Sports and Pastimes of the English People^ ed. of 1801, pp. 238, 
240). 

* The Smallshawes appear to have been hereditary offenders, for on 20th December, 
1620, George Smallshaw and William Bigbie [Rigby ?] of Holland, were presented 
"for sellinge meateupon the Saboth daie." The judge ordered them not even to 
expose it for sale on that day, under pain of excommunication, and to acknowledge their 
offence before minister and churchwardens, and they to certify the performance thereof 
under their hands. {Liber correct, Cestr, quoted in Raines* MSS.) 



History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. 1 7 7 

disturbance of the congregation ?' and soon after went [he] out of 
the church." Smallshaw appeared to answer the charge, and "for 
that he confesseth hee gave the lyke words the Judge hath injoined 
hym to confes his falte in Holland Churche and to ask forgiveness 

of Robert curate who hee called Red-headed fellowe at 

service time, — sub pcena excomy Ludovic Asmali is likewise 
charged with " being out of the church at service tyme, and being 
required to come in [he] answered he had been at service and 
would come no more except he [the curate] wore the surples." 
He too appeared before the chancellor, who enjoined him " that 
he give the curate no such words hereafter, sub pcena excomr 

The curate of the parish church at Wigan, [Robert] Thompson 
was at the same time charged that he " did reade service divers 
times, and doth usuallic, contrarie to the Book of Comon prayer, 
[and] doth not saie service neither Wednesdaie nor Frydaie/** 

As to parson Fleetwood, however we may deprecate his in- 
tolerance of the conscientious opinions of others and his officious 
pertinacity in hunting out and denouncing those who would not 
conform to the reformed religion, we must acknowledge that he 
had the courage of his opinions, whether in matters of religion or 
civil policy, and he certainly stood up manfully for the temporal 
rights of his church against powerful opponents. He was a very 
active magistrate, and one of the most influential of the political 
clergy of his day. Moreover he was an able preacher, and appears 
to have been respected as a divine by his bishop and by the laity 
of the reformed church. We find him to have been a frequent 
visitor at the house of the Earl of Derby, who always speaks of 
him with respect, and he seems to have occupied a good position 
in the county. 

He was a married man ; and probably the first married rector 
of Wigan, unless wc except the volatile Standish, who may 
perhaps have been a married man during the few months he 
was rector of that parish. Mr. Eanvaker, who has made large 

* Canon Raines' MSS., vol. xxii. p. 184 ; from the records of proccetiings in the 
Ecclesiastical Court Chester. 

AA